I'm doing academia because I just want to know as much as I can about what I do. I can't imagine going and working for a company right now with only a BS because I've definitely learned that there's more that I don't know about what I'd like to do than what I do know, so I'd feel dishonest even trying to say I'm an expert in what I learned about.
Anyway, I love to teach, I love to learn, and I love to research. Pretty much the only thing that I'm not looking forward to with a career in academia is the more laid back atmosphere than you'll find in industry, though maybe I'll appreciate it later on in life.
As to the question posed originally about which job would you take? Well, I'm starting my Ph.D. studies in about a month.
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