offended again
2006-09-12 | 5:23 p.m.

I should maybe just stop having education-related conversations with anyone who is a research student with a name similar to Richard.

Every single person who has ever insulted my education to my face has been a research student named Richard, Rich, or, as was the case last week, Rish.

It's either a really strange coincidence, or a bizarre pattern that science is not yet able to explain.

So, last week I was at Thomson House with a couple of my friends, for trivia night, and we were joined by a group of academic law students (as in, not training to be lawyers, but doing research and other academia-type stuff).

I forget how it came up, but, according to one of them, professional degrees aren't real graduate degrees.

Okay. So the B.Ed. is debatable, as is the LL.B. In most places, you have to have an undergraduate degree to get admitted to those programs (although not in Quebec, as far as I know). But they're still bachelor's degrees. In some places, you can do them concurrently with the undergrad degree, or enter straight out of high school or Cegep. So, okay, maybe those aren't "real" graduate degrees, but sort of pseudo-graduate degrees. Fine.

But, come on ... an M.D. isn't a graduate degree?? I have to call bullshit on that.

Which brings me to why I was offended ... my MScA isn't a graduate degree?? Just because it's based on clinical and coursework, and is a prerequisite for a professional license?

I call bullshit again. Last time I checked, the M stood for Master. So nyaah nyaah to that guy. Clearly biased by being in a field where the professional degree is a bachelor's. Nyaah nyaah nyaaaaaaaah.

Lucky for him he came up with some of the answers we needed in order to place first in the third round and win a pitcher of beer, or I'd really dislike him. ;-)

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