Deciding to go back to school for my master’s degree was not an particularly easy choice. I had just started a new job and found myself surrounded by smart, highly educated peers. It took me ten years to complete my undergraduate coursework, and while I was the first person in my family to obtain a bachelor’s degree, surrounded by coworkers that had master’s degrees caused me to feel very inadequate. I told myself that I was promoted to this position based on my merit and I did not need a master’s degree to validate myself. Yet, I was also faced with the fact that I would need to be competitive with my peers should further advancement become available. When considering my options I had to take into account the cost and time commitment. I knew that I would be working a graveyard schedule so trying to figure out how to fit in time to study or even attend classes was mind-boggling. …show more content…
I felt this was kismet as I really wanted to pursue Sociology over Criminal Justice and it allowed for me to fit in school around my crazy schedule. I adjusted my budget to be able to pay my tuition in cash, seeing as I was still paying on my student loans I was not interested in adding further to my debt. It was going to be a sacrifice, but one I hoped would be rewarding.
When I decided to go back to school, I had all these thoughts and expectations about what the next eighteen months of my life was going to be like and what direction my life would take afterwards. I had a fear that I would struggle and give up and waste my time and money. If I did manage to make it through I thought that it would open up all of these doors and people could finally see my worth. I was wrong about myself giving up. I put in the work and am happy to say it is almost done. As far as opening doors, time will