Susan,
I read with amusement your posting, and yes, as an older grad
student here at UMass in landscape architecture, dealing with egos in the
design professions is interesting. I never really had a gauge to measure
true ego until i spent 10+ yrs. out in the real world (after one Master's
degree) and now have re-entered grad school, to see this dynamic. I
speak only from my perspective, and i have travelled all over the world
and most recently lived in Seattle (which is a great city). What I found
interesting in your thoughts was the fact that you mention "coming from
the South"...I too, spent most of my life in various states in the South
and grew up there and i don't think i have seen people as hard, rude,
obnoxious, and egocentric to toxic levels as i have since being in the
North here. People here are simply that way...so don't waste your
precious energy analyzing any more than necessary. There are some
wonderful people here also but overall, and i speak from global
experience, Northerners are harder and pushier...and quite frankly, the
softer more polite parts of my Southern experience i choose to
incorporate into MY STYLE and i choose to avoid and limit the negatives i
see regardless of where i live at the time. So, thanks for letting me
offer some short insights and cherish your great Southern
background...ironically too, my experience has also been that diversity
was much more evident in the South....the circles i frequented were
tremendously rich, lots of Northerners live in the South, and up here i
feel groups are much more polarized...lots of talk about bridge building
and cultural diversity and artistic progression, but not much
evidence....just my 2 cents....have a great week and chat more if you like.
Cheers, Nanci Bateman
design@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I read with amusement your posting, and yes, as an older grad
student here at UMass in landscape architecture, dealing with egos in the
design professions is interesting. I never really had a gauge to measure
true ego until i spent 10+ yrs. out in the real world (after one Master's
degree) and now have re-entered grad school, to see this dynamic. I
speak only from my perspective, and i have travelled all over the world
and most recently lived in Seattle (which is a great city). What I found
interesting in your thoughts was the fact that you mention "coming from
the South"...I too, spent most of my life in various states in the South
and grew up there and i don't think i have seen people as hard, rude,
obnoxious, and egocentric to toxic levels as i have since being in the
North here. People here are simply that way...so don't waste your
precious energy analyzing any more than necessary. There are some
wonderful people here also but overall, and i speak from global
experience, Northerners are harder and pushier...and quite frankly, the
softer more polite parts of my Southern experience i choose to
incorporate into MY STYLE and i choose to avoid and limit the negatives i
see regardless of where i live at the time. So, thanks for letting me
offer some short insights and cherish your great Southern
background...ironically too, my experience has also been that diversity
was much more evident in the South....the circles i frequented were
tremendously rich, lots of Northerners live in the South, and up here i
feel groups are much more polarized...lots of talk about bridge building
and cultural diversity and artistic progression, but not much
evidence....just my 2 cents....have a great week and chat more if you like.
Cheers, Nanci Bateman
design@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx