Where am I going? Do I want to end up forever locked within the doors of the great Ivory Tower of Academia? Do I necessarily want a Doctorate? Sure, it would be useful for a resumé, but is it a goal worth spending another 5-6 years working towards?
All I want to do is keep learning about the fundamental nature of everything until I am sated. I want to learn the hard maths and physics like QED, QCD, quantum gravity, general relativity, the geometry of manifolds, linear algebra, complex analysis, time-dependent hamiltonians, and eventually grapple with things like unified field theory. It seems like the only way to realistically acquire this knowledge is by subjecting myself to graduate school.
I’m still not sure that I even like physics enough to keep plowing through it forever. What I really want to pursue is the time evolution of complex interacting systems, but I have no clue how to start.
For some reason I find that I’m most comfortable in a classroom setting. Don’t know why, really. Whatever you decide to do, good luck. :)
I too enjoy the classroom setting, but I don’t want to be stuck here. Sure I’ll always consider myself a student of something—since learning should never end—but to be a perpetual student scares me.