#37 Get a Master’s Degree 1 July 2010
602 days…
20 months…
1.65 years…
96 credit hours…
32 courses…
1239 + discussion participation assignments…
countless homework assignments, book chapters, midterms, projects, papers, late nights, finals…
an 80 page final degree capstone project…
the pregnancy/labor/delivery and first 8 months of our daughter’s existence…
All of this and TW and I have completed our master’s degrees. One MBA each. Done. Check this one off the Bucket List. On a bragging note, despite our stiff competition on grades, we both completed with cumulative GPAs of 3.985. We got one A-. But we still count that as a personal A, since after the course we (and the rest of the class) got that instructor fired for being such an *@$%*!^. Don’t even get us started about that class, we aren’t fully past it yet…
In type-face, it sums up so succinctly. I Completed my Master’s Degree. And yet there’s so much tied up in such a short phrase: Relief. Exhaustion. Happiness. Humility. Accomplishment. Gratitude. Emotion.
I’ve had this dream since I was a senior in high school. It was my dad’s wish. His vision that became mine. And now it is his pride. And my mother’s joy. A gift I willingly share with them: I am the first person in all the known history of my father’s and mother’s families to receive a graduate degree.
Wrapped up in all of the good feelings, I must admit, there is a bit of wistfulness. We’re done with school. We have no further plans for formal education. Call me crazy, but I will miss it. There’s a little bit of my heart that feels sad, almost weepy. There’s even a bit of emptiness. We’ve worked so hard and carried this load, an overwhelming one at times, for so long that it’s hard to imagine “real life” without it.
What do people DO if they aren’t busy with homework or reading or tests or papers? Not that we aren’t busy now. We have nearly 2 years of “stuff” we’ve been putting off. Like updating the ipod. Or replacing our car brakes. And tackling small household projects like trimming the bottom of our bedroom door and actually gluing the kitchen window sill in place. You know, difficult tasks that are just not a priority when you have schoolwork to do … or you just want to spend 30 minutes together just chatting … or you have 15 minutes to play with your adorable baby before she goes to bed.
Is this how “real life” works?
Stuff like this?
Huh.
We’re still adjusting.
Such a wonderful achievement! I always felt bad that I didn’t even earn my bachelors degree. However— not to diminish your great accomplishment, but to keep things accurate — our son John earned his Masters degree two years ago at Utah State University, which I believe makes him the first in the Nelson side of the family.
Congrats!
By the way, now you will find other reasons to avoid doing those little tasks that need doing.