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human
Falling out of love with academia: is it normal?

Hi! I am looking for advice/stories similar to my own! I'll explain my situation briefly. 


I am a 22-year old, highly motivated student from Holland. I am currently enrolled in my first year as a ReMA student in Linguistics, and I have a bachelor degree in Linguistics and Dutch literature. 

The program I am currently enrolled in is quite a prestigious program, and when I applied (as an undergrad) I dreamt about getting a PhD in Linguistics some day (oh, how naive...). Nine months into the program, however, academia revealed to be not as much as a 'dream field' as I had imagined it would be. 


Especially within linguistics, funding is low, the field is **highly** competitive (like screwing over your class mates for extra credit competitive), there is not much science-for-science but all the more science-for-fast-everyday-benefits (on governement funds), and a 60+ hour workweek is deemed fine (how some people, especially women, work in academia *and* raise a family is completely beyond me). 


As a result, I am feeling quite gloomy about my future at times, and I am even considering changing programs in order to obtain a teaching degree (which is 'just' a master degree, not a ReMa degree), even though my grades are fine.


My question then, is: is this normal to fall out of love with academia during a ReMA/PhD? Do others suffer as much as I do from the work load? Am I being whiny? Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about my future thesis and I get the shivers. 

**TL;DR**: dreamt of a career in science as an undergrad as I am head over heels with the field but I find the current developments in academia rather deterring - is this normal?
gpt
Of course it is normal. 

The funding issue is important here. Funding should always be the central focus for people interested in an academic career. First of all if there is no funding then there is no point dreaming. Or, if there is funding and you can’t get funding then it’s an indicator that you are not at the level. Because if you are interested in a career, it is the funding money that you have got at each stage that employers will see as the most important section of your CV.

Also things happen in life so never close any doors!!! Good luck.