We Have Big News!

No, I am not pregnant!  That’s what you thought I was going to say, wasn’t it?   We aren’t moving.  We aren’t getting any more pets or animals.  Any guesses or do you have absolutely no idea?  Welll, I graduated with my Master’s in Special Education in December, but I’ve always thought that whenever you do something, you should want to do the best you can do or move up to the highest position.  When I worked at a restaurant and I got hired as a host, I never wanted to stay a host. From the minute I got hired, my mind was thinking about when I would move up to become a server.   Anyway, as a Special Education Teacher, that gives me a couple of options.  I can become a Principal, a Superintendent, or a Special Education Director.  However, I don’t want to become a principal or superintendent.  I could see myself becoming a Special Education Director or L.E.A. but I am not sure I want to go around and give people advice on the paperwork aspect of my job. This is not like me. I’ve always wanted to keep moving up the ladder and move to the top of whatever job I’ve had.  My other option would be to teach at the college level.  Now that is something I would be interested in.  I could teach future educators about Special Education!  I had such a great experience in my Master’s Program that I would love to teach classes like the ones I took.  From what I understand, you can teach at the college level with a Master’s Degree as an adjunct professor.  An adjunct professor teachers one or two classes a semester and doesn’t get paid very much.   I’ve also heard that you can teach at the college level with a Master’s Degree if you have a bunch of years of experience to back it up.  Soooo, the only way for me to teach at the college level sooner rather than later is to get my doctorate.

I went ahead and applied to two schools for my Doctorate in Education.  The first school won’t even look at my documents until next year and I wouldn’t be able to start until Fall of 2019.  The second school asked me to send my transcripts, answer some questions over the phone, and submit a statement of purpose. A couple of days later, I received an email saying that I was accepted to Liberty University’s Doctoral Program!  You would think that I would have cried I would be so happy and excited, but that wasn’t the case.  So, here I am being completely transparent and honest with you.  I am so nervous.  This seems like such a huge commitment, a pricey commitment too.  I know that it would all be worth it in the end, but there’s a lot more to consider now that I’m a mom.  I finished up my last year of my Master’s Program pregnant and my last semester with a newborn, but I am not sure how much of a difference there will be with workload from a Master’s to a Doctorate.  I started my Master’s Program before Oakley was born and I didn’t have any choice not to finish it.  That never crossed my mind though because I loved it and learned to love learning again by going through that program.  I actually graduated with a 4.0, which was a total 180 from my undergraduate GPA.  Even though I maintained a 4.0 throughout my Master’s Program, I’m still nervous.  I keep asking myself, “What if the work is a lot harder?  What if they grade a lot different?”   The one thing that I like is, the semesters are broken up into 2, 8 week sessions and you take one class per 8 weeks.  When I think about that, I think that is doable because you’re just focusing on one class at a time.  In my Master’s Program, I took three classes per semester.  It’s the dissertation that scares me. I know that is a huge undertaking, but I also know you receive a lot of support and preparation leading up to it.  I know getting a doctorate is a big commitment, but I do not want it to dictate my life or come before Andrew and Oakley.  Clearly, I have some a big decision to make.  I’ll share more when I make my decision!