You’re on Your Own, Kid depicts one of my first and most vivid impressions of grad school in Belgium. As an undergrad, I used to hang out with professors a lot. We’d cook out or go to a bar, and discuss what we were learning. In Belgium however, professors are much more aloof. One professor in particular was notorious for making students buy him a pack of cigarettes as the fee for a meeting. I quickly learned to rely on myself and my cohort in order to stay above water.