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YouTuber Zara Dar, a former advocate for women in science and technology, has quit her PhD pursuit to become an OnlyFans model. In a YouTube video titled "PhD dropout to OnlyFans model," Ms Dar explained her decision, stating that while it was a difficult choice, she's not particularly sad. She described her move to OnlyFans as a career switch and a gamble on her future.
"Moving on to doing OnlyFans and content creation full-time it's not just a career choice it feels kind of like a gamble on the direction of my entire life," Ms Dar said.
Ms Dar has over 1 lakh subscribers on YouTube, her previous videos included tutorials on machine learning and neural networks.
Ms Dar, while considering a future in academia, ultimately decided to leave her PhD program. She weighed the potential benefits of a polished career in academia with the alternative path of becoming a professor and mentoring students. However, the tradeoffs associated with this lifestyle ultimately influenced her decision to pursue a different path.
"People whose lifestyles I thought I envied are tied to someone else's vision. They'll spend their lives working for a company and doing things they don't necessarily enjoy," she said, adding that these people would never get the recognition they deserve.
"Their work might win someone else's wealth and fame while they stay in the background," she said. "Expendable, they will constantly worry about getting laid off and planning their lives around their salaries, budgeting to pay bills and likely renting a place to live," predicted Ms Dar, who pursued a master's in computer science at the University of Texas.
Ms Dar shared that she had envisioned a different life for herself- one unbound by "the expectations of an academic institution or the constraints of a corporate office."
By opting out of a career in academia or the tech industry, she explained that she could focus on exploring and learning about topics that genuinely interested her, rather than being limited to subjects deemed important by funding agencies.
"I've made $1 million," she revealed, emphasizing the financial side of her decision.
In her video, Ms Dar explained that she started creating content on OnlyFans as a side project while pursuing her PhD. Through this venture, she earned $1 million, which she used to pay off her family's mortgage and buy herself a car.
"Thankfully, I avoided taking out any student loans. Now, I have an investment portfolio and am planning to buy my own house. These accomplishments are a testament to the tangible rewards of carving my own path and the freedom it has brought me," she said.
She concluded her video by highlighting that most professors in the U.S. earn around $100,000 annually and often spend more time writing grant proposals than conducting actual research- a lifestyle she felt wasn't aligned with her vision for herself.