I had four years of "funding" at LSU. That is, for
four years, they would pay me to teach two classes, pay my tuition for the
three graduate classes I took each semester that were required for a Ph.D., and
some miscellaneous other contractual obligations and benefits. At the close of
the spring 2015 semester, that contract came to an end. I finished my
coursework, I finished my exams and I was one large hurdle away from completing
my degree, but I no longer had to take any classes
and only had to pay for doctoral advising hours. In other words, there was no
reason to stay in Baton Rouge if I wasn't working there. And to stay, I had to
work.
But the truth, at least part of it, is that as much as I wanted
to permanently get the fuck out of Sacramento a couple of years earlier, the
smoke had cleared - somewhat - by then (less than I imagined from 2,200 miles
away, but that's another story for another time). I wanted to go back home,
work there and work on my dissertation from there. I knew that would make a
difficult project more so, but I did not care. That was not the only factor
involved, but retrospect being both 20/20 and undo-able, it doesn't much matter
anyway. That same hindsight tells me that my being home in Sacramento served
some very certain irreplaceable benefits as well. Such is the nature of
intangibles. That unfinished work towards my Ph.D. didn't get me nothing; it
got me a shitload of experience I value quite a lot. And it got me another MA
degree. But it did not give me reason enough to go back to LSU for
commencement.
So it was on this day, five years ago that I turned in my office
keys and walked out of Coates Hall for the last time. I've been back to Baton
Rouge a few times, I planned to go back this summer and, depending on how this
current pandemic plays through, I still might. I have friends there and I have
family in southern Louisiana. I am a loyal alumnus. I was as proud as any Tiger
could be to see our football team not only win the National Championship last
season but also put together a perfect season and produce a Heisman Trophy
winner in the process. And they beat Alabama, too. Even though I didn't come
away with letters in front of my name as well as letters behind it, just
getting there and hanging in there - with all that was going on while I was
there - was a monumental long shot. In the world of "failure,"
especially in the history of my failures, that is a failure I can be proud of.
