So, as a journalist, I'm supposed to be committed to truth and watchdogging and the defense of American liberties, etc., right? And in that spirit, I still recall how viciously my fellow communication majors and I made fun of the business majors in college -- those future capitalist pigs. Well now -- as these things conveniently work out sometimes -- I am now reporting on business and the financial world, as I have been for the last few years.
And what do you know if now I am not personally interested in business, to the point of considering pursuing a master's degree in the rotten field. I've thought about it before (but in the past mostly because I was desperate to escape the soul-sucking life of a newspaper journalist, working at a particularly soul-sucking newspaper). Now, I'm actually considering how interesting it would be to learn about business in an academic setting and how it would open up my career opportunities -- whether I wanted to continue in financial journalism or move into the business field itself someday. The prospects of going after my master's are only improved by the fact that my wife, Meaghan, now works for my alma mater, Berry College, which means I could get a big discount on tuition.
So, consider this a poll (of the four of you who read this): on a scale of 1 to 10, how big a sellout would I be if I got an MBA?
1 = not at all a sellout; it was silly of me to make fun of business majors to begin with, because for all the greedy scandals we hear about businesspeople actually do a lot of good in the world
5 = a moderate sellout; it's possible some overall good could come from this, but there's also a good chance I'll end up making my living by killing three African children for every pound of diamonds harvested from my mine
10 = total sellout; why don't I just go do public relations for the tobacco industry and call it a day
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4 comments:
5. A moderate answer from a moderate person.
There is plenty of corruption in any industry. I believe big business corruption is more "popular" because there's more money involved and money is sexy. Thus the new show "Dirty Sexy Money."
I say go for it. The devil is not in the degree. The devil is in what you do with the degree.
My vote is a 6. A tad more on the sellout side than, say, getting a master's degree in journalism, but not so sellout as to pursue (shudder) PR.
I'm with Julie. Go for it and join me in the master's degree club.
I'd actually go with a 4 here, but only because you've been specializing in business news for the past several years and this would make you a much better business reporter and make it easier to move up the ladder in your current job or move into a better position with another publication. Or you could always just suck and take a middle management position with some soulless company.
If you were a sports writer, or religion specialist, I'd probably bump this up to a 7 or 8. I'd go no higher than that just because you wouldn't necessarily be choosing an evil job after finishing your MBA, but you would truly be selling out if it had nothing to do with your current specialty.
And I've learned that following your ideals into a career is stupid. It's why I'm stuck in a job I hate.
You would be the devil. That's all.
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