Kenway

Hey y'all, I've come into a dilemma, and I was hoping someone here could help me with some of it. I'm currently in a Ph.D. program and since I started it I've been having doubts about it. I'm not happy in it and although I love math I have become less sure that academia is where I want to be, for now at least. Right now I'm considering staying for my Master's and leaving after that (I talked about this with someone who works in my department and they told me that if after taking some time off and deciding that I want to get back into academia then I could reapplying and would probably be given some preference). This idea is really appealing to me, I went straight from high school to undergrad and straight to grad, and I'd love to take some time off to work in the outside world and see how I like it. My only problem is that I don't know what I'd do for work. I love learning/fiddling with/researching math, and I love teaching, and getting a part-time deal tutoring or possibly adjuncting at a university near the city I'd move to sounds great as a side thing, but I doubt it would cut it when it comes down to paying for rent/ food / student loans / other bills etc. I have my bachelor's in physics, my studies in math have specialized in pure not really any applied, and I know a little programming and am teaching myself some and I'm really liking it. Not that I don't think that there is anything I can do with this, but I don't really know of much I can do with this skill-set. Since graduating I've received a couple notifications from my undergrad saying an alum who now works at IBM is looking to hire, and that there are really nice benefits and that several of our graduates have worked for her there. It sounded great, but I looked into IBM and there are some issues with it that trouble me (e.g. they do business in China in the same factories that Apple does and those human rights violations are not ok, there are issues with them with apartheid abuses in South Africa, and more), and I don't want to work for a corporation like that. So here is my question to y'all, and I'd love any answers/suggestions/thoughts/advice/etc. you have on the matter: Do you know of any job opportunities that do not involve working for an unethical organization (e.g. not some company with humans rights violations, not an insurance firm, no NSA, etc.) that involves or is related to my background? Thanks a million, Kenway

Hey y'all, I just started a Ph.D program in Math (no Master's yet, just starting grad school but I'm still considered a Ph.D. student, I've read it is different in other fields so I thought this might be necessary to avoid confusion) and I could use some help/advice. Some backstory first: I'm homesick as hell, I moved away from Maryland and I really miss people back home, in particular the friends I made through high school and undergrad. I expected the move to be hard but not this hard, a part of me feels incomplete being unable to see them even every now and then, it would be just an hour or so drive and I could see the people who mean the most to me but the 10-12 hour drive I'd have to do now isn't really practical. The program I'm in so far seems great. From what I've seen so far the other students are really nice, the professors are good and approachable, and the department takes care of us. However, I still miss home, and those other things kind of don't seem as important to me now. Like I said the other students seem really nice and I've been hanging out with them for the past few weeks, going over their houses for dinner or going out for drinks, but no matter how much I try it just feels like something is missing and it doesn't feel right. My love for Math hasn't changed, regardless of what job I end up in I still will be studying/dabbling around with research in Math on my own time, but the connections I've made with those people are very important to me, and I'm starting to question whether my education/job is more important to me or the people in my life. Lately I've begun seriously considering trying to transfer to a program closer to home, and I'm wondering if I can get some advice from y'all on this: - Is this ultimately the wrong reason to transfer? - The workload and teaching responsibilities don't seem bad / excessively stressful / I believe I am definitely capable of handling them, but does what I have said above indicate that I'm not cut out for grad school? - I have no individual advisor, until we pass our quals and become a full Ph.D. candidate the graduate director functions as our advisor. I'm worried that my hesitations and concerns about the program here and desire to transfer would offend him/the department, is there a way I could go about this and voice my concerns without offending anyone and not give myself any future problems if I do end up staying? - If I do try to transfer, what can I do to ensure the highest chances of success? What should I include and not include about my decision to transfer in a statement of purpose? Would a letter of recommendation from a professor here (I'm new, so I don't have a deep relationship with many, if any, professors here) and two letters from professors from my undergrad look bad? I had an excellent relationship with my professors in undergrad, and I just graduated recently so they would certainly remember me. Any and all input is greatly appreciated, and thank you very much for reading through all of this as I potentially go through a quarter-life crisis. Cheers! Kenway