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‘My students never knew’: the lecturer who lived in a tent
The Guardian ^ | 30 Oct 2021 | Anna Fazackerley

Posted on 10/31/2021 1:55:45 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT

Lê decided to live outside as a last resort when she was faced with a steep rent increase in the third year of her PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London, and realised she would not be able to afford a flat and cover all her costs on her research and teaching income.

Higher education is one of the most casualised sectors of the UK economy, and for many it means a struggle to get by

Aimée Lê Aimée Lê: ‘It was cold. There were days when I remember waking up and my tent was in a circle of snow.’ Photograph: Milan Svanderlik Anna Fazackerley Sat 30 Oct

Like many PhD students, Aimée Lê needed her hourly paid job – as an English lecturer – to stay afloat. But what her students never guessed was that for two years while she taught them she was living in a tent.

Lê decided to live outside as a last resort when she was faced with a steep rent increase in the third year of her PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London, and realised she would not be able to afford a flat and cover all her costs on her research and teaching income.

She recalls: “It was cold. It was a small one-person tent, which meant after a bit it did get warmer. But there were days when I remember waking up and my tent was in a circle of snow. When I wasn’t doing my PhD or other work I was learning how to chop wood or start a fire.”

She stored her books in the postgraduate office so they wouldn’t be damaged, and showered at university. She “didn’t quite tell” her parents, saying to them that she was staying on an ecological farm so as not to worry them.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat; Education
KEYWORDS: phd
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I know a grad student that slept in his car many nights.

And connected to: Financially Hobbled for Life': The Elite Master's Degrees That ...› financially-hobbled-for-li... Jul 8, 2021 — Recent film program graduates of Columbia University who took out federal student loans had a median debt of $181,000. https://www.wsj.com/articles/financially-hobbled-for-life-the-elite-masters-degrees-that-dont-pay-off-11625752773

1 posted on 10/31/2021 1:55:45 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
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To: DUMBGRUNT

‘Financially Hobbled for Life’: The Elite Master’s Degrees That Don’t Pay Off

Full TXT:
https://archive.vn/6iD8L


2 posted on 10/31/2021 1:59:19 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: DUMBGRUNT
"Aimée Lê Aimée Lê"

What kind of phony baloney name is that? It's faux French. It marks its bearer as a kook. Her real name is probably something like Prunella Jones.

3 posted on 10/31/2021 2:00:42 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

The real question: Should we feel sorry for her. Me, I’m compassioned out.

“When you’re poor you’re embarrassed. When you become rich you brag about the time you were poor”.


4 posted on 10/31/2021 2:05:54 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Many professors are paid just to teach a class. It’s a lump sum for the class. Here it is called a P14.


5 posted on 10/31/2021 2:09:47 PM PDT by AppyPappy (How many fingers am I holding up, Winston? )
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Despite having a university PhD, this woman is unable to understand why (1) everything in the world is not free (2) the disconnect between salaries and cost of living in the capital city (3) too many people for the available accomodation means some will be left out.
[Hint: uncontrolled immigration].


6 posted on 10/31/2021 2:26:11 PM PDT by Mr Radical (In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act)
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To: DUMBGRUNT
"...her PhD on minority ethnic groups in American literature..."

I certainly guessed correctly on on the absolute worthlessness of her degree.

Whoever made that loan to her will never see the light of day on a payoff.

7 posted on 10/31/2021 2:28:25 PM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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To: Mr Radical

I guess she couldn’t live outside the city center, share a cheap flat, and ride the tube to work like the rest of the plebeians. Last I checked, you could still read on a train.


8 posted on 10/31/2021 2:33:54 PM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

That is funny.


9 posted on 10/31/2021 2:34:32 PM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I decided to skip college and go straight to making a six figure salary. So far, it’s worked out pretty well.


10 posted on 10/31/2021 2:36:43 PM PDT by SamAdams76 (I am 31 days away from outliving Holly Dunn)
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To: rlmorel

My guess was “1830’s Irish Feminist Haiku.”


11 posted on 10/31/2021 2:41:18 PM PDT by 4Liberty (Let's go Brandon 👏 ...👏 ...👏👏👏 https://youtu.be/qr_F_XQrukM?t=1)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

12 posted on 10/31/2021 2:41:30 PM PDT by conservativeimage (Spark up a fire. Light up this place. Burn out this darkness and tear down the fear.)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

such a sacrifice for such a useless degree


13 posted on 10/31/2021 3:10:04 PM PDT by Redmen4ever
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Sometimes; Pride goeth before having no safe place to sleep or leave your wallet.
After all that remarkable determination and struggling, she still hasn’t found gainful employment. So it appears.
Maybe better off writing her memoirs about that experience and having someone help her to write a screenplay on it.
I’ll bet her parents were shocked and even angry with her.
“Is this how we raised you, to be so disorganized, unpractical and paralyzed by your pride?”


14 posted on 10/31/2021 3:13:26 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: 4Liberty

Hahahaha


15 posted on 10/31/2021 3:21:32 PM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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To: lee martell

—”she still hasn’t found gainful employment.”

I have a history PhD across the street, he has not had full-time employment in the 12 years they lived here, his wife supports them.

Many want to become a “Professor”
I used to rock climb with a tenured Prof, and he loved to complain about high school teachers that made considerably more than he did.

They crank them out far above any market demand.


16 posted on 10/31/2021 3:27:57 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Bright enough to earn PhD, but not bright enough to choose a “sustainable” field to pursue it in.

We have reached “Peak Woke Education,” lady.

Try to keep up.


17 posted on 10/31/2021 3:29:40 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy." ― Mao Zedong)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Not all PhDs are equal. She might not actually be bright enough for a PhD in a “sustainable” field. Her judgement is already in question by her choice of academic specialty.


18 posted on 10/31/2021 3:35:49 PM PDT by Reily
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To: Reily

I live in a college town. From what I can see, anybody can get a PhD in a “woke” field. The only prerequisite is being willing to bury yourself in the requisite amount of “student loan” debt.

Students are just dollar signs to universities.


19 posted on 10/31/2021 3:41:26 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy." ― Mao Zedong)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I know I live in a college town also.
In the town I live in the university is jumping on the eSports bandwagon. Will now give a ‘minor’ in it (In a few years it will be a ‘major’!) and look to sponsor an eSports team. Recruit and produce tuition paying couch potatoes, all about the Benjamin’s !


20 posted on 10/31/2021 3:52:47 PM PDT by Reily
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