Leaving academia is hard: the culture there makes you believe that it's nearly impossibly to live "the life of the mind" outside of the university. (Or maybe I just made myself think that, who knows.) I was working on a PhD in comparative literature. I was awarded the Whiting Fellowship and was told that meant I had a fair shot at actually getting a job.

But the dismal job market... it was maddening to work so hard to get somewhere that seems not to want you. Even if I did get a job, I didn't think I could deal with the interminable downsizing of the humanities, of the constant fight to justify its existence.

I was lucky to be at Stanford in the middle of the boom: there were obvious career opportunities. I had been on the net since the 1989. Back in my geeky childhood, I had taught myself programming. I decided to learn the new languages and technologies and discovered that there is some odd, unexplainable affinity between hard-theory humanities and computer programming. I think English-major-turned programmer Ellen Ullman also found this to be true; if I recall correctly, she described writing code as "thought that works," in her new novel The Bug.

I can only echo what Keven Walzer wrote (also quoted by the Invisible Adjunct):

But when I see so many gifted people still in academe, scraping by on adjunct income with no real prospects for earning a decent living, my heart goes out to them and I want to say: You are too gifted and intelligent to be wasting your time in a profession that does not want you. Just as importantly, the world is not benefiting from your talents. Look elsewhere!

Update: Frogs and Ravens provides an excellent review of the web sites that discuss leaving the academy.

Great outline of what to do about the upcoming vote on the FCC ruling on Eschaton:

Don't Just Stand There, Do Something!
Posted by Leah

Be among the first to overturn an FCC ruling.

The 19th is a only a week away. That's the day John McCain has scheduled a vote in the Senate Commerce Committee to report out legislation aimed at unmaking Michael Powell's day.

Cruising for Dean. The saga continues at All Day Permanent Red.... [Matthew Yglesias]

This weekend I'll try to refine my approach. I'm open to suggestions, of course.