Grad school, or what I like to call college after college, is another huge decision in someone's life. It is a whole other college experience that is going to be harder, more serious, and could be much more expensive than your after high school college. Think about it… Remember the stress you went through to think about what you want to be when you grow up when you are about seventeen years old beginning to look at colleges with your parents? Now times that stress by about one thousand. Grad school stress is much different than college stress, which I can tell you, I am not putting myself through.
Everything in grad school has to be super specific. Say you know you want to go to grad school for writing. Unlike college where you can claim yourself to be a Writing Arts major, in grad school you need a genre. And even more so, you need a genre to your genre. For example, you want to go to grad school for poetry. Okay, that's great. You think you have it all figured out, until you being your research and there are all the poetry programs listed, and none are simply "poetry". These grad schools make you dig deeper and think more critically to get down to exactly what you want. What happens if you are in the program for a while and realize that it is not for you? Hmm, well, I hate to say it, but you wasted a lot of time and most likely a lot of money. It is a scary thought that you can't mess up in grad school. I'll be the first to admit, I have messed up twice in college. Once was the day of my orientation when I realized I could not be a kindergarden through twelfth grade Spanish teacher because I needed to be 100% fluent in Spanish. So after that mental breakdown in front of my new college buddies, I declared myself as an Elementary Education and English major. The English part was my second mistake. I hated reading and trying to analyze literature. I liked the writing aspect of English, so switched to Writing Arts. I do have to say that I am proud of myself for always knowing that I wanted to be a teacher, probably for over ten years now. I know I have a special gift when it comes to working with children and love every second of it.
Not being able to mess up is a scary, scary thought, especially when it comes to something so important in your life. I personally learn best from my mistakes, though I hate to admit it, and would not be able to handle it if I screwed up at grad school. Knowing myself, I would probably suck it up because I would be too afraid to face my parents, but that just leaves for years and years of misery ahead, so maybe I would not have a choice.
Not being able to find a job does not immediately mean that going back to school is the best option. Depending on how flexible you are will really prove your dedication to your field. If there was a teaching job available in Miami and I was completely desperate, I'd move. I know that the job market is declining, but I also do not think that many people are willing to relocate for a job, which to me, kind of makes them seem stubborn. They can collect unemployment or whatever it is they do, but how bad you want this will definitely show through. Dedication is a major part of any job, and relocating will immediately prove to your employer that you are 100% dedicated right off the back.
In my opinion, grad school is a scary place. I think the fact that it needs to be so precise is what scares me the most. I do not work well when I am under stress or questioning myself, which I can say that many people are the same way, and it seems like that is all grad school is. Those two things really turn me off. I don't want to be completely miserable while working my butt off to maybe get a job that will maybe pay more than someone with a B.A. The education field can be sticky when it comes to that, so for now, my B.A. is perfectly acceptable.
Everything in grad school has to be super specific. Say you know you want to go to grad school for writing. Unlike college where you can claim yourself to be a Writing Arts major, in grad school you need a genre. And even more so, you need a genre to your genre. For example, you want to go to grad school for poetry. Okay, that's great. You think you have it all figured out, until you being your research and there are all the poetry programs listed, and none are simply "poetry". These grad schools make you dig deeper and think more critically to get down to exactly what you want. What happens if you are in the program for a while and realize that it is not for you? Hmm, well, I hate to say it, but you wasted a lot of time and most likely a lot of money. It is a scary thought that you can't mess up in grad school. I'll be the first to admit, I have messed up twice in college. Once was the day of my orientation when I realized I could not be a kindergarden through twelfth grade Spanish teacher because I needed to be 100% fluent in Spanish. So after that mental breakdown in front of my new college buddies, I declared myself as an Elementary Education and English major. The English part was my second mistake. I hated reading and trying to analyze literature. I liked the writing aspect of English, so switched to Writing Arts. I do have to say that I am proud of myself for always knowing that I wanted to be a teacher, probably for over ten years now. I know I have a special gift when it comes to working with children and love every second of it.
Not being able to mess up is a scary, scary thought, especially when it comes to something so important in your life. I personally learn best from my mistakes, though I hate to admit it, and would not be able to handle it if I screwed up at grad school. Knowing myself, I would probably suck it up because I would be too afraid to face my parents, but that just leaves for years and years of misery ahead, so maybe I would not have a choice.
Not being able to find a job does not immediately mean that going back to school is the best option. Depending on how flexible you are will really prove your dedication to your field. If there was a teaching job available in Miami and I was completely desperate, I'd move. I know that the job market is declining, but I also do not think that many people are willing to relocate for a job, which to me, kind of makes them seem stubborn. They can collect unemployment or whatever it is they do, but how bad you want this will definitely show through. Dedication is a major part of any job, and relocating will immediately prove to your employer that you are 100% dedicated right off the back.
In my opinion, grad school is a scary place. I think the fact that it needs to be so precise is what scares me the most. I do not work well when I am under stress or questioning myself, which I can say that many people are the same way, and it seems like that is all grad school is. Those two things really turn me off. I don't want to be completely miserable while working my butt off to maybe get a job that will maybe pay more than someone with a B.A. The education field can be sticky when it comes to that, so for now, my B.A. is perfectly acceptable.