I'm gonna take 6 years off...

Remember your first day of school? Me neither. But I remember the gist of it. I’ll set the scene… It’s your first day of school and you’re going into the 1st grade. We’ll skip Kindergarten because that’s just playing and napping. Mom wakes you up and makes you waffles. Mmmm…waffles. She has your clothes all set out for you including your dark brown corduroys, your little blue sweater vest, your Fruit of the Looms, and your brand new tennis shoes. She combs your hair for you and packs your Elmer’s glue, those little scissors that couldn’t cut paper, your #2 pencils, and all of the cool school supplies that we wish we could use on a daily basis as adults. Don’t forget your Star Wars lunchbox that has your specially prepared lunch!

Remember how exciting that was? The promise of meeting new friends, meeting your teacher, and learning strange new concepts like math and reading were scary but exciting. Then, in the blink of an eye you’re graduating college and you have to join the work force. How time flies!

So having been out of school since 2001, why did I decide to start taking classes again? I thought I was done with that stage of my life. But I decided to enroll in a Graduate Program here at Creighton and pursue a Master’s Degree. After 6 years of being out in the real world, why was I compelled to go back to school?

Humans have the urge to learn new things. Yes, we can learn on our own, but having experts teach you about concepts and writing papers compels you to learn things you may not have otherwise been able to. I would never have chosen to read the Odyssey on my own, but since it was assigned in class, I was fortunate to have the experience of reading Homer’s epic.

I also want to be able to say that I have a Master’s Degree. Not only because of help it may give me in future job applications. Even more than that, I will be able to learn things that will have an impact on me for the rest of my life. My program is not one in which you learn a skill and then are able to get a specific job. This program is more about understanding the world and learning different ways to think. This is a crucial reason for my desire to continue my education. Many people see education as a means to an end. Getting a degree to get a job is the prime example of this. That certainly is a good reason to go to school. But now that I’ve done that via my undergraduate education, I am ready to embark on a different journey. The journey of getting a Master’s Degree is the real reason I am doing this. To learn for the sake of learning. It will be nice to have a degree that shows I actually did it, but the real reason is to better myself. I couldn’t have said that during undergrad.