Anados Defered

Review of North by Northwestern

Some places have an aura about them. By reputation...

Some places have an aura about them. By reputation or mythology. This is one of them. Thought about coming here for years. Every time I drove by, saw Alice Millar Chapel. Came here for grad studies. Interdisciplinary program. Loved the classes. It was intense. Enjoyed research. Hours spent in the library. Advanced learning. Refining ideas and conceptualization. Walks & discussions with friends. Their passions, ideas. The beauty of the campus and the trees. The lakefront. Dealing with the cold, walking from the parking lot, which was always crowded. Spent two years. Got what I needed: credentials, competencies, skills and a degree from my dream, Northwestern University.
Also learned about Academia. At an exorbitant price. Inter and intra departmental administrative bias and politics. Its Kafkaesque impact on program studies, implementation & planned education. The true meaning of a Ph.D: myth vs. reality. Its not scholarship. The actual toll of pursuit. Identity politics in its pure form. A post-modern glass bead game, partisan rules on a shifting ever left political landscape.
I have always treasured my time here, what I learned, and the friends I made. It changed my life.