Sometimes I really like that academia can be an adventure and doesn’t always have to feel like a Standard Adult Job and then sometimes I just sit there with my mouth wide open like what. Why is this profession so weird.

Like this one time I went on a research trip to this library in western Mass that I thought would be in a small city because it was literally called the American Institute for the discipline in question, v official. Nope. Middle of nowhere. The last mile or so was a single lane road with No Trespassing signs every few yards and I truly thought someone was gonna come out of the trees ranting and raving at me to go home until the area opened up into first this huge stone mansion with turrets and vampire film energy and then the actual library that was much more…understated.

The whole trip had strange vibes mostly because I was in the basement of the place the whole time and some guy just appeared from behind the bookshelves at one point and we had multiple interactions that felt like hallucinations. But the thing that really got me was after I’d finished my couple days of research I asked one of the resident researchers who was there what the big mansion was about because I thought it might be a museum or something I could explore. And this man looks me dead in the eye and goes “oh, no, that’s where we live.” Uhhhh apparently all of the researchers for the institute that was in charge of the library lived in that building together. Which is sort of normal by academic standards I guess???? There are definitely plenty of research programs that offer on campus housing. But also imagine in any other profession telling someone “oh yeah, I live in the castle-esque manor directly next to my workplace with four of my coworkers.” And I suddenly understood how we’ve gotten the media rap of eclectic weirdos. I really feel like there’s a novel plot in there somewhere or maybe a serious conversation about work-life balance and coworker interactions but what an insane career field to be in I want to dive in and never leave.