The town of Durham is charming and vibrant, and just generally a nice place to live. Student life may be a little unvaried, but the colleges do a good job of offering social opportunities and building a community.

I'm deeply frustrated and sad about the time I've spent with the Durham archaeology department. It has become clear over the past year that the faculty don't care about their students at all. I have formed no meaningful relationships and have received the absolute bare minimum of support in my career goals. There are almost no opportunities for learning outside of the classroom and if there are they are mostly reserved for undergrads. There are few opportunities to get to know the professors - they show up to their mandatory classes, teach for an hour or two, and leave with the bell. Whereas my friends at other institutions have formed close relationships with their advisors and professors, and would consider them valuable resources for career advice or even professional recommendations, I feel that most of my professors have no idea who I am and don't want to be involved in any aspect of my life. I have had a grand total of three meetings with my dissertation advisors over the past few months, and one of them only one showed up to. I haven't received any meaningful feedback or had any remotely exciting conversations about the actual content. Nobody is interested in my research or what I have to say. At this point I feel like I'm just in a degree factory: I'm only here to give them my money and walk out with a piece of paper. My dissertation is due in a few short weeks, and once it's turned in I know that my advisors and professors will forget my name. I have remarkably little to show for my time here, and though it sounds harsh I'm saddened to say I feel I've wasted a year of my life. I'm truly sorry that I passed up other opportunities to come here. I thought it would be different.