19. Start my masters program.

Today is the first day that I begin work on my masters in Higher Education.
Although it’s October 2010, I actually started researching programs in January of 2009. I’ve known for a while that I was ready to get a graduate degree but for some reason, I’ve been under the assumption that I needed to pay for it out of pocket.

I’m not really sure why I thought that was even an option- but it certainly isn’t! Financial aid is my new BFF (don’t tell O.)

Applying to grad school really kind of happened over night. I woke up one morning and told Joe, “Today; I’m going to look into getting my masters”…. And the next day, I was literally ready to apply.

I think since I already knew the program and school of choice, that it expedited the process a little bit. The first time I researched, I found a distance education program from Abilene Christian University (ACU).

B/C of my ridiculous work schedule, I cannot commit to taking a class on a particular day of the week so distance ed obviously--- makes the most sense for my lifestyle.

Each course is only 7 weeks long and there is no down time. Meaning, what most students typically learn in about 13 weeks, I am learning in half of the time. There is A LOT of reading, A LOT of class discussions and forums, A LOT of assignments, A LOT of video participation and of course a heaping load of writing {pretty sure my blog is going to suffer.}

Today is the first day and I’m already a little overwhelmed. I’ve had my textbooks about 2 weeks and even though class didn’t technically start until today, I started reading last week. This week’s work consists of 63 textbook pages, 4 assignments and 2 discussions… all due next Monday, and then module 2 begins.

To read w/comprehension and thorough process, I’ve estimated about 10 pages per hour. And this is taking notes in the margin, highlighting and rereading a sentence (when and if my mind wanders).

I get home at 6 pm and I’m in bed by 11 every night. That leaves 6 hours of study time each day. In order to be successful, I’m going to have to make huge sacrifices. No more TV and no more lounging around. I have to take advantage of EVERY free second that I have. I’ve committed to only responding to work related emails, during work hours. When at work, I need to also maximize that time so that when 5:00 comes, I am ready to get home and start w/my studies.

I know my blog w/probably suffer from lack of time; I pray that my relationship doesn’t…but Joe has been very supportive. {In all honesty, I'm willing to sacrifice the blog for a graduate degree---DUH!!!!}

Wish me luck… this may be the last update for a while.