How many parts equal a whole?

Dear Nanette:

Con­gra­tu­la­tions! Your appli­ca­tion for the Master’s degree and/or Tier 1 cre­den­tial pro­gram in the Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tio­nal Lea­dership at Cali­for­nia State Uni­ver­sity has been pro­ces­sed and I am plea­sed to inform you that you have been accep­ted in to the Edu­ca­tio­nal Lea­dership Pro­gram star­ting Fall 2008.

Deep breaths, Nette. Deep breaths.

As of August 25th, I’m a part-time stay at home mom, part-time teacher, and part-time stu­dent. And part-time going insane.

Hubby and I deci­ded that now is the best time for me to go back and gain a Master’s degree. Now, when the kids are still small, when Hubby has a bit of say over his work sche­dule, and when I’m wor­king part-time.

Now, before the kids hit ele­men­tary school and my part-time gig is up.

My ulti­mate goal is to end up in administration.

There, I said it. I don’t want to be a teacher for the rest of my life. I LOVE teaching, but just can’t see myself doing it for the next 25 years.

So I’m taking steps right now to ensure I have the oppor­tu­nity to pur­sue a career in admi­nis­tra­tion when it fits our family.

Deep breaths, Nette, deep breaths.

How hard can a Master’s degree be? I mean, let’s be honest. Get­ting a BA in Libe­ral Stu­dies, Ele­men­tary Edu­ca­tion was SUCH a piece of cake for me. I took no less than 20 units each semes­ter. It was a breeze.

Honestly, I didn’t, not one sin­gle time, have to write a ten page essay. Not. Once. And let’s not even talk about the EASY math clas­ses teachers get to take…

This should be a breeze, right?

Right…

Right??!!

OH MY GOSH.…Please tell me I’m right.

It didn’t occur to me until lite­rally last week that I may actually have to WORK for my pen­ding degree. Like read BOOKS, do PROJECTS, and write PAPERS.…LONG papers.

Deep breaths.

So I enter this sum­mer, with exci­te­ment, anti­ci­pa­tion, and a fear beyond any I’ve felt for a long time.

I’m going to be a stu­dent again.

Holy Crap.

A stu­dent.

I fully expect the night of August 24th I’ll have all kinds of wacky dreams where I head off to school without my pants on, arrive late without my books, and pro­bably have a screa­ming kid in tow.

Deep Breaths, Nette. Deep breaths.

9 Comments »

  1. Robyn said,

    June 26, 2008 @ 10:40 am

    My dad went through that same pro­gram a few years ago. If I remem­ber correctly, he had to write a small paper (3–4 pgs) a week on the rea­ding. There were also lots of group pro­jects and a really big final project.

    If you want to talk to someone about the pro­gram, let me know and I’ll for­ward you his email.

    Robyn’s last blog post..Is “Opting-Out” a Myth?

  2. Michelle said,

    June 26, 2008 @ 3:15 pm

    Con­grats!!! That is won­der­ful. Deep Breaths… you are smart and will be fine!

    Michelle’s last blog post..Manhood in question

  3. Gunfighter said,

    June 27, 2008 @ 3:14 am

    Con­gra­tu­la­tions!

    You’ll be fine.

  4. Lia said,

    June 27, 2008 @ 10:10 am

    Con­grats! Now hurry up so when I come back to work you can be my boss!

    Lia’s last blog post..Just Like That, It Was Done

  5. Jessica (It's my life...) said,

    June 27, 2008 @ 9:05 pm

    WOOOOT! Good for you! That is fan­tas­tic news!
    You’ll be fine. You might sleep a little less than usual, but you’ll be awe­some.
    I have a close friend who did the Mas­ters in Ed Lea­dership at San Jose State while wor­king full time, gran­ted, not while rai­sing kids too, but still.
    Hang in there and keep your eye on the prize!

    Jes­sica (It’s my life…)‘s last blog post..Word­less Wed­nes­day Fri­day — Get­ting ready for Halloween

  6. Jamie Dockiewicz said,

    June 28, 2008 @ 6:53 pm

    Con­gra­tu­la­tions! If anyone can do it, I know you can. This will be just one more hat to wear for the time being, but breath, laugh, and prioritize.

  7. Lady M said,

    June 30, 2008 @ 10:05 pm

    Con­gra­tu­la­tions! You’ll do great.

    Lady M’s last blog post..Totally Nai­led That Paren­ting Moment

  8. Rachel said,

    July 7, 2008 @ 5:25 pm

    you rock.

    con­grats.

    yes, i have been lur­king again. lol

  9. At Home Redesigns said,

    July 8, 2008 @ 7:22 pm

    How fun, sha­ring a birth­day with Spi­der­man. Lucky boy.

    At Home Redesigns’s last blog post..Now everyone’s going to want an invite

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