So lately a lot of talk around our house has been about going back to school. Dereck is required to get a masters degree in order to promote above the rank of Major, and it is best to get it before you reach the Major select point. So since he'll be a Captain this spring, it looks like a good time to get started. The spring semester also coincides with his deployment in February. A lot of people find it good to work on their schooling while deployed because during their "off days" there isn't a lot to do anyways, so working on their degree is a great way to kill two birds with one stone: boredom and knocking out a class or two. He's looking at a few online schools right now, but is definitely looking at a masters in Psychology because its something he is interested in and he already as the behavior science undergrad. Also, its pretty awesome that he can get some tuition assistance from the Air Force so he won't have to use his GI Bill to get this degree. This means he can save it for another degree in the future or even pass it on to our children one day. That's pretty awesome! Thanks USAF!
Now for me, there is no way I can allow my husband to be more educated than me- especially since we both agree that I'm the brains of the family...
I just have a few issues to resolve.
#1 is what I want to get a masters in, since I'm still unsure of my career path in the future. Right now I'm leading towards a masters in Mathematics so I can teach math at a university level (community college most likely) or even high school. I can't get certified to teach high school until I know what state I live in, but having a masters in the subject I plan to teach can only be beneficial towards getting my certification. I'm going to hold out a while longer (since I don't have the time constraint of a deployment or promoting like Dereck does) but hope to start something in about a year.
#2 is spending the money, since I sitll am paying for my undergraduate education (and will be for probably 10 more years! yikes!). Its hard to justify spending more money on educaiton without knowing if and when I'll be able to use it.... which brings us to #3.
#3 is planning a family. Do I want to wait until after we have kids to decide if I want to go to work or not... or plan to work, get the masters, and see how it goes after we start a family? I'd hate to get another degree and not use it, but I think I'd hate more to want to teach later in life, then not have the qualifications to do so. Its hard to plan around a family, because we know we want to wait longer to have children, but we don't know how much longer (and then you have to see how long it takes to actually get pregnant!). Oh life. Why are you so confusing?
For now its just time for me to think about what I want my next step to be! I'm going to continue to sub at the High School and I hope my tutoring on the side continues to grow. I have my first appointment next week to tutor geometry to a 9th grade student and I am very excited about it. I really hope that I am able to help him get his grades up! I think it will be a good way for me to determine if this teaching thing is really something I could handle.
So that's the big talk around our house as of lately!
One thing to think about, if you do end up staying home with kids, is that any degrees you get will be SEVERAL years out-of-date by that point in time. Depending on how far apart children are, up to 10 or more! I plan on going back to teaching in some form when our youngest hits school-age (assuming I don't home-school, which I am totally on the fence about). So my plan is, when the youngest is 3 or so, starting back on my masters while I stay home. Then when it comes time to get a job, my master's is fresh and with the latest developments and such. That way, since I won't have worked in the field for a while, I'll still have current data, not just old education. Plus that allows time for my mind to change as to what exactly I want to do in the teaching field!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that you are as motivated as Derek to get higher education... I am too, it will just have to be a bit later than Jace!! :)
Good luck!
Very good point- Dereck and I have discussed that with his masters actually... which is why he wants to save his GI bill for another, more current, one in the future. As for me, a masters in Mathematics is never really "old". Math doesn't change... but that's exactly why I'm not doing anything with actual teaching or certification right now. But I have plenty of time to think about it! :-) Sounds like you've been doing a lot of thinking yourself!
ReplyDeletei can't help with #1 cuz i'm worse off than you are in that department. i do agree with chelsea though about being careful about the degree choice. i'm already worried about how out of date i am with AE stuff since my job hasn't been AE and i'll be taking some time off working for probably most (if not all) of 2011.
ReplyDeleteas for #2, the nice thing about going back to school is that if you do it full time, you can defer all your loans (even the ones that are in repayment right now from your undergrad). or at least that's what i've understood. also, if you manage to find a cheaper way to do it (like online), then you're pretty much guaranteed not to spend as much as you did at Riddle.
#3: totally personal choice. that'll be something you and dereck have to discuss, and even between the two of you it may take a LOT of discussions to figure it out... assuming you do! i'm not sure anyone's ever ready to start a family, but i think people just get to the point where they're comfortable with the idea and then go ahead and try. i'll be sure to let you know (via blogging/FB/email/etc) how my experience goes with taking a step back from school to start a family. it's really quite applicable to your situation since i was very seriously considering going back to school after the end of Shuttle (until i got pregnant!).
it's amazing how we could have lived so much of our lives apart, and still feel like we're almost twins!
miss you Jane!!!