Thoughts From The Floor Of The Bryce Jordan Center
For years my dad both encouraged and pestered me to get a master’s degree. He didn’t really care about the discipline in which the degree would be based, rather he figured that it would help me advance my career. At no time was this pressure greater than when I was a stay-at-home-dad.
I had convinced myself that I was always too busy (or perhaps too lazy) to grab the proverbial bull by the horns and start taking classes. Then in May of 2014, my dad passed away. Ouch.
Maybe it was just the right time in my life (unlikely), or maybe dad’s passing was the motivation that I needed to get things moving. In any case, in the fall of 2014 I started taking coursework at Penn State (duh, where else?!) toward an M.Ed. in Higher Education. I saw the writing on the wall that my dad had been correct; getting an advanced degree could be a boon for my career, and perhaps might open some doors that would have otherwise been closed to me.
I took one course each semester (including summers) for ten terms. If I had it to do over again, I might double-up some of those classes to help expedite the process. That said, many semesters I found that I could likely only handle one class, when combined with the rest of the stuff in my life.
One of the big realizations that I recently had was that I was working through my graduate coursework, my job suddenly became much more difficult and taxing, as the University was implementing a new enterprise student information system. I guess I should have listened to my dad all those years ago. Still, while I didn’t necessarily notice at the time, it was quite challenging - and quite an accomplishment to work through that process.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the overwhelming support that Melissa provided throughout my entire journey. Both she and my awesome kids have been so helpful and I am forever grateful for their love and support.
So, here I sit at the Penn State Graduate School fall semester commencement ceremonies. As of a few days ago, my final grades were, well finalized and today I had my degree officially conferred.
That’s right, I’m now a MASTER. Here’s what it feels like in my mind:
But here’s what it really looks like:
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For years my dad both encouraged and pestered me to get a master’s degree. He didn’t really care about the discipline in which the degree would be based, rather he figured that it would help me advance my career. At no time was this pressure greater than when I was a stay-at-home-dad.
I had convinced myself that I was always too busy (or perhaps too lazy) to grab the proverbial bull by the horns and start taking classes. Then in May of 2014, my dad passed away. Ouch.
Maybe it was just the right time in my life (unlikely), or maybe dad’s passing was the motivation that I needed to get things moving. In any case, in the fall of 2014 I started taking coursework at Penn State (duh, where else?!) toward an M.Ed. in Higher Education. I saw the writing on the wall that my dad had been correct; getting an advanced degree could be a boon for my career, and perhaps might open some doors that would have otherwise been closed to me.
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| my name is in there somewhere... |
I took one course each semester (including summers) for ten terms. If I had it to do over again, I might double-up some of those classes to help expedite the process. That said, many semesters I found that I could likely only handle one class, when combined with the rest of the stuff in my life.
One of the big realizations that I recently had was that I was working through my graduate coursework, my job suddenly became much more difficult and taxing, as the University was implementing a new enterprise student information system. I guess I should have listened to my dad all those years ago. Still, while I didn’t necessarily notice at the time, it was quite challenging - and quite an accomplishment to work through that process.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the overwhelming support that Melissa provided throughout my entire journey. Both she and my awesome kids have been so helpful and I am forever grateful for their love and support.
So, here I sit at the Penn State Graduate School fall semester commencement ceremonies. As of a few days ago, my final grades were, well finalized and today I had my degree officially conferred.
That’s right, I’m now a MASTER. Here’s what it feels like in my mind:
But here’s what it really looks like: