Education

Live as if you were to die tomorrow.

Learn as if you were to live forever.

~ Mohandas Gandhi

- - - - -

Me:  Maddie, I think I'm actually going to finish my Ph.D. this spring.

Maddie:  Really?  That's good.  What's next?  A master's degree?

Me:  No.  Ph.D. is the end unless I study something different.

Maddie:  What does a Ph.D. mean?  What can you do with it that you can't do now?

Me:  (pause)  Um, I can apply for some jobs I couldn't before.  (pause)  And I can teach at a university.

(long pause)

Maddie:  It seems like you should get to do more than that after all that work.

(longer pause)

Me:  (quietly)  Yeah.