So…a Master’s huh?

I know I just made a post this morning but I could not let the night end without posting another one this evening.  It’s a big day!

So, I just hit submit on my LAST paper for my Master’s degree!  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!

People finish Master’s Degrees every day, so why is this such a big deal?  I’m glad you asked.  I started my Master’s journey in 2007.  I had taken a year off after finishing my undergraduate degree.  Unfortunately, I was not mentally prepared.  I tried my darnedest but for whatever reason, I simply was NOT motivated to complete the course work.  I took a break and started again at the same school.  Same thing happened!  I would do fine for the first class and earn an A with a perfect score.  The second class though, yep, that one would get me.  Repeat the same process with THREE other schools over the four years that followed.  I finally decided to stop telling people that I was working on my Master’s because at that point I didn’t believe that I would ever finish it.  Finally, in September of 2011, I found a perfect program.  It was at a Christian school and the professors cared.  They checked on me when I was missing assignments.  Best of all, the program was only 10 classes and would take me just 1 year to finish.  They even accepted credit from other programs I’d been in.

That was exciting.  I zoomed through the first class.  The second class gave me trouble but I managed to make it through.  The third class came and I came to one of the discussion questions that made my head hurt.  I literally could not even remember my name when I was in that course!  I decided to give up forever and always and figured that my B.S. was going to be good enough for me.

Fast forward to January 2012.  A friend needed help with a Statistics class for her graduate degree.  I helped her for the semester and somewhere in there, I regained my love of learning.  I also learned that I was pursuing my Master’s in the wrong program!  Well, not the ENTIRE wrong program, but just the specialization.  So, after finding what I was missing, I contacted my advisor at the same school and let her know that I was ready to get in to finish.  Still, I didn’t tell anyone that I had re-enrolled.  I didn’t want to disappoint anyone or worse, have people looking at me with that side-eyed glance like, “yeah right”…so, I kept pressing.  That same class that gave me a headache before tried to trip me up but I was able to make it through.  I earned an A-.  Fine.  I’m cool with that.  The classes came and went.  I got to the next to the last three classes and I hit a rock!  The book I needed was 160 bucks!  If you read my story in the Motherhood Diaries, then you KNOW why this was an issue!  Anyway, I had to withdraw just before Christmas.  I. Was. Devastated.  How could I be THIS close to finishing my degree and have to stop because I couldn’t afford the book?  I tried EVERYTHING.  I emailed the company to even see if I could get a trial copy (they never responded).  My advisor tried to find out if I could get a desk copy.  The public library didn’t have it and no one responded to the request for an Interlibrary Loan.  The e-book was $119.00 (dude…seriously?  an e-book?).  They even had a loose leaf student edition for ONE HUNDRED EIGHT DOLLARS!  There were NO USED BOOKS!  Did I mention that at the time my car had JUST been repaired from a blown head gasket and had the radiator replaced?  So, even though RENTING the book was only going to cost $63.00, I was not able to get it.  On TOP of that, there was some online toolkit that might have needed to be purchased.  <ACK>

Well, January rolled around and all I could do was PRAY!  I started my class again, and THANKFULLY the book I rented was BRAND NEW and the toolkit’s subscription code had NOT been used.  Thank you JESUS!  So, Anyway, I started up at the end of January 2013…and FINALLY, I have submitted my last paper!

So, the next time you see Daffy Duck running and screaming like only he can, just clap for him.  He’s been through a lot and is just grateful for the new opportunities that await him.

Until next time,

Hakuna Matata