by Chris Cumo

Allison Baker, who holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania, felt ambivalent about an academic career. She didn’t want to fritter away years teaching part-time while trying to publish her way into a job. Nor did she want to move around the country in search of a series of temporary appointments only to end up somewhere she didn’t like earning a substandard salary. At the same time, she sensed that her parents (her father is a molecular biologist) and friends expected her to do something with her degree. She taught a semester at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California but didn’t enjoy the experience. Her passion was fitness rather than academe. A competitive runner since age 13, and now an avid swimmer, she gravitated toward a neighbor who trains Hollywood celebrities in Los Angeles, California. With his encouragement she started her own business as a personal trainer, a job that gave her the independence she had wanted as a scholar and the chance to help others improve their quality of life in ways that are more concrete than anything she had done in the classroom.

This transition from the library stacks to the weight room has drawn on the writing and research skills she honed in graduate school, only now she writes fitness articles rather than monographs, and researches diet and exercise rather than cultural history. Baker is quick to add that she is as much a teacher now than she would have been at a university, only the interaction is more personal than is possible in a large survey course. The point is that graduate school can be a path to all sorts of interesting careers for those who are willing to take risks.

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