Confessions of a Grad School Dropout
This is it, the start of the next part of my next career! Masters of Public Heath, here I come!
I opened the syllabus for my first online grad school course and felt... underwhelmed.
Well, damn.
I meticulously planned it all out. I took a course (paid for by my employer) as a non-matriculated student the year prior to test the waters. I made a financial plan so I wouldn't have to take out any student loans. I would do do the bulk of the program online while keeping my 9-5 job.
The letdown I felt when I read over that syllabus made me question my decision. I realized I directed so much energy towards applying, prep, and planning, that I didn't really examine my motives to go back to school. What I really wanted was the freedom and flexibility to do more meaningful work. An advanced degree wasn't going to give me that. I needed to create my ideal continuing education experience.
Quitting, especially before I even truly started, felt so paradoxical. I spent the majority of my childhood outside of school playing school. I lived for our annual school supply shopping trip. And tot this day, walking around Staples still makes me giddy.
I decided if I wasn't going back to school then I'd spend the time doing things that excited me: travel nurse throughout the US, international humanitarian work, and reading books I couldn't put down.
To some that may seem like a poor ROI. How would any of those things advance my career like a degree would?
Traveling has given me the most useful skill in work and life: adaptability. Learning how to work in varied environments and with people from around the world is invaluable.
I opened the syllabus for my first online grad school course and felt... underwhelmed.
Well, damn.
I meticulously planned it all out. I took a course (paid for by my employer) as a non-matriculated student the year prior to test the waters. I made a financial plan so I wouldn't have to take out any student loans. I would do do the bulk of the program online while keeping my 9-5 job.
The letdown I felt when I read over that syllabus made me question my decision. I realized I directed so much energy towards applying, prep, and planning, that I didn't really examine my motives to go back to school. What I really wanted was the freedom and flexibility to do more meaningful work. An advanced degree wasn't going to give me that. I needed to create my ideal continuing education experience.
Quitting, especially before I even truly started, felt so paradoxical. I spent the majority of my childhood outside of school playing school. I lived for our annual school supply shopping trip. And tot this day, walking around Staples still makes me giddy.
I decided if I wasn't going back to school then I'd spend the time doing things that excited me: travel nurse throughout the US, international humanitarian work, and reading books I couldn't put down.
To some that may seem like a poor ROI. How would any of those things advance my career like a degree would?
Traveling has given me the most useful skill in work and life: adaptability. Learning how to work in varied environments and with people from around the world is invaluable.
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