My Choice

My Choice – Amber Theinert

I hate my choice options. The open-endedness of such a blog makes it difficult to decide what to do. I could write about my research, but sometimes I bore of that topic (since I am so immersed in it on a relatively frequent basis). So, I think I will contribute to this blog by writing a mini survival guide to getting a Masters degree while working full-time and being a full-time mom. As much research as I’ve done in sports public relations, I definitely know much more about this topic then anything else.

1. Find a job that will work with you and understand your school commitments.

This is actually quite difficult, as I soon found out. First, I moved backed to Oklahoma as there were no schools within close proximity to where I lived in Texas that offered my degree. Then the job I moved for that promised complete understanding no longer understood after a year. Luckily, I finally fell into a job that seems to get it (although there are still issues at times).

2. Have a strong support system in place.

Having family that gets it and an awesome spouse that is willing to spend a lot of lonely nights with two children under the age of three seems like it would be impossible to find. However, a simple conversation explaining all the crazy time commitments can go a long way to save a marriage. Also, knowing that if your spouse has to work late that you have other family willing to take care of the kiddos while you are in school is of the utmost importance.

3. Although you have no time, be ready to make time.

This is the hardest thing for me to do. I still find myself doing a lot of things last minute (like this blog), but time is really difficult to make and often times I need the deadline to kick things into high gear. Luckily, I’ve always worked my best under pressure. I’ve learned quite a bit about time management by getting my Masters degree that I never learned while getting my Bachelors degree.

4. Getting a Bachelors degree is very different than a Masters degree.

This is good knowledge for every student taking this step. The whole undergraduate process is geared toward practical knowledge, training you to get a job upon graduation. However, graduate school requires more thinking, asks that you learn more about the why rather than the how of it all. So, all studying skills that were effective for a BA are almost completely ineffective for an MA.