Higher education

[days_unfolding]

No, not like Cheech and Chong -;) I've decided that I want to go to grad school in the fall. That decision opened up the question of what do I want to do with my life? Here's a summary from an (edited) note that I sent to a friend:

Here's the situation that I'm grappling with. <My boss> and I were discussing my <performance goals>, which have changed format yet again to include "development tasks," that is, classes. I had listed two more project management classes. She asked me if I wanted to get my PMP certification, which stopped me cold. The real reason that I've been taking the project management classes is so if I wind up working at a small company, I could wind up being the tech writing project manager, tech writing expert, and general jack-of-all-trades. (I didn't tell her that.) I don't see myself ever as a project manager at <the company for which I work>. I'm not sure if I see myself as a project manager in general because I've gotten more reclusive since I've been sick. I tend to say only whatever I need to say to people. The only person whom I hang out with is <my movie friend, with whom I work> I'm well aware that I'd need to deal with people no matter what I do.

However, I've gotten a real yen to get a Master's degree online. I looked at all sorts of degrees trying to decide what interested me: Human Factors, MBA with a concentration in Project Management, and Instructional Design/Technology. The Instructional Design degree really captured my interest, initially because I'd acquire a new skill that was related to tech writing. I've seen job listings looking for someone to write the documentation and the training materials. There's a program at Indiana University that really interests me, although it might be tough to get in.

So I told <my boss> that I was interested in the Instructional Technology degree at Indiana University. She mentioned that <someone whom I used to work for> had an Instructional Technology degree from there. (I knew that; he has a PhD from there.) She commented that he's been starting to get involved with documentation issues on the corporate level.

In other words, which direction do I want to go? I kind of fumbled around and muttered something about having to figure out what I want to do with my life.

So I mulled over whether I'd want to get a doctorate in Technical Communications. I found a program that I like at the University of Washington, though of course it might be tough to get in. I would need to do the Master's degree first because my undergraduate grades at the U of I were, well, uneven. My grades at San Jose State were good. However, by the time that I'd go for my doctorate, I'd be a lot older than the average grad student. I don't know if that would hurt my chances. On the other hand, I'd have a lot of practical experience. Going the doctorate route would imply that I'd need to work for a large corporation, if not <the company for which I work>, then somewhere else. (Hmm, it just occurred to me that if I got a degree from the University of Washington, maybe I could get a job with Microsoft, hee hee hee.) I was planning to leave <the company for which I work> after we ship the current release that we're working on.

So I need to figure out what I want to do. I talked to my mom about this, and she commented that I tend to go for the jobs in which I'd learn the most, which is spot on. The Instructional Design/Tech comm degree route seems to be interesting me the most.

I also started the Dale Carnegie course this week. I think that it's going to mess with my comfort zones a lot, but then again, it's supposed to. I thought that it might be all high-tech people, but it's a very diverse class; one guy whom I interviewed and introduced to the class works for the S.F. 49ers!

Anyway, I still want to go to the gym, and I want to take a practice GRE (yes, tonight), so I need to run.

Comments

[sunshine-two.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you're going to busy for hmmmm... the next 5 or 6 years ;)

[days-unfolding.livejournal.com]

Something like that -;)

[2wanda.livejournal.com]

Go for it. Don't worry about being "lot older than the average grad student." I'm 45 years old, and I'm working on my first BA degree.

You are never too old to learn.

[days-unfolding.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the encouragement!