For most of us in graduate school, the
choice isn’t really a choice. The answer is grades. But not just grades. The
answer is conference papers and publications, research teams and defenses, and
teaching evaluations. The answer to the question of career, social life, or
health is simple. We are here for the degree. Everything else is distraction or
procrastination. You can function on four hours of sleep. You can eat microwave
dinners. You can ignore your friends…or translate social life into group work time.
Let me be clear here. There is absolutely
nothing wrong with caring about your work. I love what I do. Yes, I get stressed
and tired and frustrated. But what we are doing is interesting and challenging
in the best way.
Still, that does not mean that it should
suffocate out all other aspects of our lives. So many of the people that I know
at Purdue are extremely creative. They are writers and designers and actors and
poets. And that’s okay. It’s more than okay. It is brilliant. Academic work and
creativity are not opposites that one must choose between. In my (admittedly
short) experience, they are fuel for each other. Creative work makes me
sharper, and academic work expands my imagination.
That is one of the reasons why I was
thrilled to hear that my friend and fellow graduate student, Jessica Robinson,
was going to be in a staged reading this semester. I had never been to a staged
reading, but I was more than willing to go see her in it.
A group of friends (and grad students)
went to the Lafayette Civic Theater to watch Jessica in ‘In the Next Room.’ I
was immediately struck by the space. It had a homey quality, with a wide stage
and seating that ensured every audience member would have a ‘good seat.’ As we
waited, we examined the stage and the props that were before us. It seemed
interesting, and I was excited to see what would happen. Then the cast walked
out and promptly sat in the seats in front of the stage. I thought this was
odd, but I was sure it would all work out.
And it did. The stage was not set for the
reading we were there to see. Without props or setting, the cast stood up and
read through the play with feeling and expression that I am not equipped to
fully describe in this short space. They had no need of props.
I was so amazed by my friend up there performing
in front of the audience. And I absolutely enjoyed seeing the show. So when she
suggested going to see another performance, the Rain Maker, I was more than
willing to join her. And that too was a fun experience.
I know that these will be the first of many
performances that I see. And I hope that this is not the last time I see
Jessica on stage. I haven’t asked her, but I am certain that getting to perform
and do something creative that she loves improved her life. I’d bet she would
say it was worth the hours she used not working on her academic career.
But still we hedge. We make excuses for
why we would be irrational enough to engage in these time-consuming creative
endeavors. I propose that these endeavors aid in our work, and, even if they
don’t, that they are still worth doing.
(Cast image from Purdue Exponent)
