Is Grad School Worth Dying For?

There’s this saying… Go with your first mind. Some old sayings are just that…. OLD. Your first thought is often you’re uninformed, uncompromised, and therefore unbalanced thought. I recently made a decision that required me to fight my first mind. And I would like to encourage others to explore some new options as well. Happy reading!

I don’t know if it was growing up in a family where college graduation wasn’t the norm, that gave me a warped view of college. I always knew I wanted to go to college, but I was going for a… degree, a Bachelors Degree ONLY! Bachelors Degree… Masters Degree…. Doctorate Degree…. You know what they are? Well I always thought they were pieces of paper behind the glass. Unlike a marriage license, they did not legalize anything. However, I always recognized the fact that these sheets of paper gave the person bearing it power. And by power I mean, MONEY. And that was where their significance ended for me.

It wasn’t until I viewed the course descriptions for the classes offered in the Masters program at DePaul University, that I realized that I REALLY want to know that stuff! The classes were interesting and much more conducive to my field than all the crud we have to take in undergrad. In a four year degree (at EIU), there are four classes that are directly connected with my concentration, which is Media Production. The Masters program that I am looking at consist of thirteen courses, ALL of which will make me a master of my field, no pun intended.

So, I went through five stages. Denial: Believing that I did not want or need a Masters. Then I was Angry: I was so frustrated with EVERYONE running around talking about earning their Masters; why is everyone obsessed with this stupid piece of paper?! Then I moved on to Bargaining: Well, if I went to grad school, how long would it take? Well if it can be done by the time I’m 27… I might think about it. Then I became Depressed: this past year I have relished the thought of telling school to kiss my hind parts in May 2010. But now… I realize I ‘m walking out of one classroom… and into the next one. And last, but certainly not least I Accepted: I accepted the fact that I would best serve myself and my child by just taking a couple more strides, after all, what’s a few more strides when I’ve ran a marathon. Now, I do realize that I have just described the decision to go to grad school using Kubler Ross’ Five Stages of Death. Isn’t that lively! But, there was a death, the death of old ideas. And you know the saying, whenever there is a death, there’s a birth. So simultaneously, old thoughts died and a new goal was born, all in the course of one day.