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Nevertheless! Care to share your story? What turned you away from academia?

• azhenley 5y ago
  I wasn’t happy. I shared a bit more detail here: https://austinhenley.com/blog/leavingacademia.html https://austinhenley.com/blog/leavingacademia.html
  • yuuu 5y ago
    How do you cope with the feeling that you're missing out on future prestige?
    • neel_k 5y ago
      Same way that I (who left industry to pursue an academic career because I wasn't happy) cope with the feeling I am missing out on a giant FAANG salary: mostly, I just don't think about it. Like, I have enough money to afford a house and take my kids on vacation from time to time. So having lots of money is something I idly wonder about sometimes, but no critical need is going unmet by its lack. Conversely, if you have a prestigious position, most likely everyone around you does too. For example, I'm a professor, and yes, it makes my mom proud. But all of my colleagues and many of my friends are professors, too. So in terms of day-to-day life, it just doesn't matter much. I think everyone wonders about what might have been. But you can really only make one choice at a time, and so even if you had chosen differently you will still wonder what might have been.