garmana::blog

The beginning of the end

I've been getting a lot of crap for never posting this summer... Truth be told I've gotten a little burned out again spending too much time on all things computer. Between work, school, outside projects, and rekindling the embers formerly known as my writing, my eyes were beginning to go a little buggy and my rear end a little tender from sitting in front of the monitor all day.

But that's enough of that. I feel myself catching my third wind and it's time to get back into the swing of online things.

Tomorrow wraps up the third week of the semester at Illinois State. I'm 20% done with my final semester! It's hard to believe; the days have often seemed long but the semesters short. I turned in my final paperwork (and check) today for graduation, and now that light at the end of the tunnel doesn't appear to be an oncoming train.

I'm still very glad that I went back to school to complete my Masters, but time management has been difficult. I would advise anyone that is interested in doing it to go for it, but I'll also throw in a few items of unrequested advice. Those who hate insessent nagging can skip to the final paragraph:

• Know what you're getting into if you're working full time. Don't go to school full time also if you can avoid it. You'll feel like you'll never get done taking one class at a time, but with two you'll still be going to class for six hours, commuting for two hours, and reading for four hours each week. On top of that you have homework, studying, and group projects. Be prepared to spend twenty hours a week for nine months of the year, and know that it will still take you three years (I was a bonehead and took one class for a few semesters, and so it's taken me four). Set aside a few hours each week to remind your loved ones what you look like.


• Don't start your Masters right out of undergrad, or even 1-2 years afterwards. Working for 3-5 years will do you a world of good in your graduate tenure. You'll be able to draw on experiences from work whether your topic of study is the same or not, and you will also have a larger context to which you can relate your course material. I would have gotten only a fraction of the benefit from classes like software quality assurance and project management had I taken them as a cocky, naive 22 year old with no real-world work experience. Instead I started as a cocky, slightly-less naive 26 year old and it made all the difference.


• Get to know your classmates. They're potential business contacts to be sure, but that's not what I'm getting at. Just like in undergrad, I've gotten to meet people from all walks of life; from an assembly line worker making a fresh start at 40 and Vietnamese farmer, to a retired chemist and Navy Seal. Besides being great people, their experiences bring varied dynamics to the table that are hard to match in a homogeneous corporation.


• Find a reliable block to park on within walking distance of the campus so that you can avoid buying a parking pass. I've saved almost $500 over the years by successfully avoiding campus parking, and came away with only one $5 parking ticket.

Aside from the friends I've made and the new things I've learned, the infectious energy on campus has been my favorite part. Even as a commuter (and an old guy), just walking across the campus and seeing people laughing, playing catch, and enjoying the hell out of every day is inspiring. I wouldn't pick going back to college over where I am now in life, but we should be so lucky to have the energy, enthusiasm, and hope that are bottled up in the students I walk among each day.