But Wait – I just Got my Master’s in Oriental Medicine and I have “___-itis” One year in the mind of a post-graduate

So here I am making a pot of chicken mole and wondering how I got here: maxed out in student loans while holding 3 degrees. I could borrow another 25K and try for that be-all-end-all PhD but wait! Is that really necessary? Oh screw it I’m too old to do that – I’ve been in school for a total of 9 years – (I just turned 49) – 9 years including those “special” classes I sometimes had to retake, namely Chem II and Organic I. Yup those weed-out classes when you’re going for that Bio degree and then on to med school. Many of you will know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s not that many of us aren’t smart – we were just not supposedly taking it seriously enough and wanted to buck a system that says “You need to know this shit if you’re EVER going to be a doctor!” Yeah, right! How many of you doctors have used your chemistry since graduation – or did you just sell those books and be done? Okay so maybe I did drag my notes out to explain what happens when you eat bacon or artificial sweeteners but that’s about it! I confess I did hang onto my books and my notes – they’ll probably sit in boxes until they find me dead and then my kids will have a huge job of sifting through tons of old notebooks and end up throwing a lot of stuff away. (Note to children: I would prefer you make a bonfire out of that stuff). However, I have committed a mortal sin in writing and digressed way too much before I was supposed to. Who makes these stinking rules anyway? Where to start? What am I trying to say here? What the hell is the point of putting all these thoughts to hard copy anyway? Maybe just to say to all of you out there: “You’re not alone.” 

            “Degree-itis” seems to be more common than “Income-itis” these days. For those of you not understanding the Latin ending “-itis” it means inflammation, growing larger. The seeking of degrees has grown but the income you’re supposed to get from that disease has NOT! I should probably include “Student-loan-itis” in this discussion as well but it’s so painful to think about how many of us with “Degree-itis” also have the aforementioned “Student-loan-itis.” After graduation the inflammation really grows and then you come down with “Stress-itis” which turns into a chronic, nagging condition in about a year. I’ve been diagnosed with all 3 of these diseases and my doctor told me there is no hope for a cure at this time. Maybe I should start a non-profit organization (NPO) to bring attention and potential research for a cure to this problem. Yeah…my mind tends to go into many realms these days and that is only one of them. 

I also need to include the following disclaimer: 

I suffer from “Project-itis” as a result of co-occurring disease states of ACTIVE “Degree-itis,” “Student-loan-itis” and an absence of “Income-itis.” I make no claims that a cure for any of these diseases is available but I do hope to make money from the sales of this book in order to bring about all the conditions associated with, related to and all about “Income-itis.” 

The following pages are only a journey into my mind. You as the reader may relate to some of the passages or vehemently disagree with some of them. That’s not my problem. I’m only opening my mind for ONE YEAR to see what comes out of it.

I hope some of it’s entertaining and I hope some of it makes you think.