On not getting my MA

From a conversation with a friend:

I left without getting an MA as well, but I loved to read and even when  in college would read writings other than those prescribed partly because I was in the habit of not trusting the discernment of my teachers and professors.  But also, I had taken a job in engineering at Douglas Aircraft Company, was making more money than I would as a professor in Junior College where I imagined I would have to start out, and interestingly, I had one of those wives (Karen my first and not Susan my second) you refer to who was not really suited to me (or I to her) who regularly spent more money than I made.  Also, since there was a turnover of Liberal Arts types in engineering, I had to appear to like my job and not give my managers any reason to become suspicious that I was planning to leave (which for a couple of years I was) if I completed my MA.  Also, which I’m sure I’ve mentioned before I got into a colossal argument with (up until then) my favorite professor over the merits of Alexander Pope.

I didn’t burn any bridges, but I signed up in the Master’s Program at a different college,  took one course: Non-Dramatic Elizabethan Poetry, but it was at night and attended mostly by teachers seeking extra credit.  At the end of the semester the professor apologized to me for not presenting me with any challenges; so that was the end of college for me.

It was a shock to have to begin work in an industry and specialty I had no interest in.  But there was no viable alternative.  As it happened I managed better than the other Liberal Arts types and progressed into more technical realms, but, when I first went to work at Douglas, I took with me the recommended reading-list for the Master’s Program at Long Beach State.