Back to School I Go

For many of you, this announcement is no big surprise--you probably expected it. I'm just so excited that it's finally happening. We recently discovered that when I was attending Tarleton State University in Texas I completed 24 graduate hours toward a Masters of Education specializing in Educational Administration. Administration, you ask? Yeah, it's kind of humorous because it's the last thing I would have guessed it was in, too. I always thought it was in Curriculum & Instruction. But, I was wrong. I was only a couple classes and a thesis/project away from graduation when we moved away. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is? I've always intended to finish, but I assumed I'd do it when I "got around to it." You know--later.

As happy as I've been with my Masters of Library Science, it's always bothered me that I didn't finish the MEd I started so long ago. So this summer I started looking at the program here, just out of curiosity. You won't BELIEVE what I discovered! If I'm ever going to finish this thing, I simply HAVE to finish the program through Chadron!

*First, because I am family of faculty, I practically get my tuition free. I'll be paying about 1/3 of the normal state tuition/fees cost which I can easily do. My class and school fees are completely covered--100%. Woah!

*After they received my transcripts, they decided that 12 hours will already apply toward this masters. I am TOTALLY shocked about this. I expected them to take maybe 6 hours. Woohoo!

*They have the specialization that I was most interested in: Educational Technology. This will certainly help, no matter WHERE I work on down the road.

*I can take all courses either face-to-face or online. How's that for convenience?!

*Because they are applying 12 hours from my previous schooling (and because they've laid out my remaining courses so well) I can finish in one year rather than the 2-2.5 years I was looking at.

I would say that I'm speechless, but since I've typed all this out that would kinda be a lie. LOL I'm beyond thrilled. I'm ecstatic. Lee and I are working out a schedule of when he'll be working/dissertating and when he'll be home so that I can go study. With a 4.5 year old, 2.5 year old, and 4 month old, we already have our hands quite full. But I've also been doing a couple volunteer activities that I can let go of so that I can work on finishing this year. Lord willing, the year will go very smoothly so that I can graduate by next August. I'm sure this will be a HUGE lesson in time management for our entire family.

Anyway, just wanted to share the good news. Anyone else headed back to school any time soon?