How to Drop Out of Graduate School

The chapter details Ruhl’s first day at graduate school and the difficult decision she ultimately makes to leave the program.

She is overwhelmed by the seemingly impossible task of paying tuition while also surviving in a ridiculously expensive city. To make matters worse, the faculty member assigned to teach her first class never arrives and her next teacher is confrontational, dismissive, and rude. Ruhl goes on to describe her existence after dropping out — holding down multiple jobs, existing on hot and sour soup, but still chasing her writing goals. For Ruhl the act of dropping out conflicts with her typical scholastic responsibility, but ultimately it was a liberating decision.

First, be sure to pick a graduate school that is insanely expensive, located in a ridiculously unaffordable city, in a profession that gives you few if any guaranteed prospects postgraduation and loans that you have no idea how you’re going to pay for. That’s what I did anyway.
- Sarah Ruhl

Discussion Questions

What is it about her choice of graduate school that concerns Ruhl the most?

How do you respond to the interaction between Ruhl and her professor, who asks her about dropping out in front of all her classmates? How might you have reacted to this confrontation?

What other behaviors does the professor exhibit that make Ruhl uncomfortable? How do you think that may have influenced her decision?

How would you describe Ruhl’s life after she dropped out? What in her description of that time period stands out to you?

What do you think Ruhl means when she describes her return to the city “with a little more knowledge and therefore power”?

What lessons will you carry from this chapter?

Related Resources

Andy Bragen Theater Projects

A Friend Like a Comet: An Interview with Sarah Ruhl

Sarah Ruhl: Writing Between Fantastic and Realistic