How NOT to get an master's degree

This is not a bitch letter or a "feel sorry for me" posting. It is a factual posting of the events that have surrounded my attempt attempt to earn a master's degree. Throughout this process, I have questioned the worth of getting this degree, and I have to say it had better be worth the hassles and expenses!

Why get this degree? It is a nice compliment to my IT background and experiences. Hopefully it will help me in my decision making processes on future jobs or projects. Simple as that.

Costs associated? Obviously, the money part of it. We won't even discuss student loans. More than that, it's the constant pressure of papers due, books to read, research to hunt down, concepts to learn and then reinforce so I don't forget them. Most of all, though, it's the missing time from the family or from trips we could have made, friends to invite over or go visit. Days to sleep in, or nights to go to bed early, neither of which happen since forever. Burning both ends of the candle? We are pros now.

The journey? Where to begin? I could wander all over the place in side conversations, but here are the main points. And all of it to say: this is how NOT to pursue a master's degree!

• finished my bachelor's on July 9, 2007.
• had scheduled a month prior to that to go right into my master's degree the next week, for an educational degree, with an IT emphasis
• that morning of the 9th, I had sent an email to tell my counselor that I didn't feel right about that program, and wanted to see all my options to change it
• then...I got the call that Mom had died that morning :(
• put a master's degree on hold indefinitely
• re-visited my options again that fall
• started an MBA program in October 2007
• the first few classes were great. my study teams were great, no problems!
• then, Mike accepted a job in Virginia for July 2008...so we have to move if he takes it
• he found out he got the job the same day he had an outpatient surgery, which was also on a class night, so I had to miss class. you can only miss one night of each course, and I usually never missed a night
• I had planned to miss the last of this course, because it was going to be on July 9th, the one year anniversary date of when Mom died. I did not want to be in a classroom that day. now, I had no choice. it worked out okay, even though of the 4 people in my study group, one was on vacation that night, one was on prescription drugs from being admitted in the hospital that day, and the other left class to go to the hospital for what he though was appendicitis. needless to say: our final group presentation was the worst one I've ever participated in. it was BAD.
  
• but, we finished that class, and I started a new one. tried to finish that next class, but realized I had not been thinking clearly! it is too hard to try to pack up a house and prepare to move...not a good combination
• withdrew from the course, to retake it later
• Newport News does not have a UOP campus in driving distance...so now I have to take courses online
• first instructor was the same one I had in Albuquerque. she turned out to be a DUD
• this instructor actually ignored all correspondence from me, unless I called her on her home phone. her excuse: she changed her computer from a pc to a mac, and couldn't get connected. she took the money from me for this course...no excuse! I had to finally turn her in.
• next instructor for next directed study course...he also turned out to be a DUD. disappeared for a couple of weeks at a time, two times in a 6-week course! I had to finally turn him in also. he offered no excuse.
• next instructor is one I had back in NM, and I liked him the first time around. he was great. however, now we were moving AGAIN, from the apartment to the house we are now in...and I fell behind. I ended up doing 4 papers in one week, which was insane and not recommended, ever. it was not planned that way
• never move when you are in a class, not a good idea
• next course, and final directed study course (before I switched to the more expensive versions of the classes that involved online work teams), was not good. I made the mistake to use Mike's company as the example for my papers (you choose a company that you can research), and it was an exercise in futility. I did not like the info I found about them, and it did not work well. in addition, I started losing interest in the course, then Christmas was here with a 2-week break and there I was trying to write these really senseless papers in a company that was not that interesting afterall.
  
• I asked my instructor for a week extension (which they can do), and when I logged on next, found he had dropped me from the course.
• this meant I had to pay for half the course instead of all of it, AND take it all over, but it was a relief not to have to figure out how to write about senseless dribble
• next came my first real online course with a virtual classroom and classmates...and an instructor that was engaged! what a difference that has been! of course, there is a cost, at the tune of over $500 more per course than the same courses I took in Albuquerque!
• this course has been a good experience, even with a little adjustments on my part. you have to practically log on every day for an hour or two to write participation answers in the online forum, in addition to the many hours of reading the chapters and articles and doing the actual homework.
• and then Mike lost his job 2 weeks ago and we are MOVING again. combining households for awhile, downsizing our physical possessions, purging ALL unnecessary items and papers. ALL of them!
  
• it's a good move, we feel fine about it, and it's for all the right reasons. it turns out that Mike losing his job was really a catalyst to push us in the direction that we are destined to go. if we had been still living in NM at this time, we would have had a harder time making a move. moving 400 miles is much easier than moving 2,000 miles any day!
• and so.
• I will finish this course
• I will BE SMART this time, and NOT take a course...while we are packing and while we are moving.
  
• and now, instead of being done the middle of May 2009...my final courses will be done sometime the end of September or middle of October.
• three moves in the middle of two years, in the middle of this adventure.
• other things did happen along the way. we had to put our son in two different kindergartens. and now we have to withdraw him from kindergarten 6 weeks early.
• our dog got infested with fleas, and we had a hard time getting them under control. she's never had them ever in her life, poor baby. we got it down, now, though!
• someone recently stole over $3K from our bank account by taking one of our checkcard numbers, probably from a restaurant, but maybe from online. more likely from a place where they got the card in hand where they could take the numbers down. we got it all back, but it was a slight hiccup in our otherwise mundane lifestyle
• family dynamics in our extended families achieved an all-time new level of discovery and surprise. some good, some still figuring itself out
• some friends came and went. sure, this happens in life sometimes...but it sure happened in strange ways this time around.
  
• I started writing an online journal/blog, which has had many unexpected and creative benefits along the way
• I've always been close to my family unit...now we are even closer and more on the same page than ever before
• the friends that I have that are special and worth keeping are SO worth keeping. they were appreciated before these past couple of years, but now are appreciated on a whole new level. it's a good thing!
  

the moral of the story is: go to school when you are YOUNG, and when you don't have RESPONSIBILITIES and a FAMILY and JOBS to worry about. it's much easier that way. AND, you might just make more money at a job, which will pay down your student loans sooner. just maybe.