Last week’s poll asked what you do/don’t do to avoid having your valuables stolen from hotel rooms. I can’t tell you how surprised I am that most people either don’t care about or don’t know about the fact that items are routinely lifted from hotel rooms–especially by staff members. People, take them with you or don’t bring them to the hotel in the first place. Do us all a favor.
This week’s poll comes after yet another Saturday spent toiling away at the library doing a paper for school due Sunday night. While I probably shouldn’t procrastinate my assignments, I have to admit that between work, family, other school work, and that stupid website I author I really don’t have a lot of free time to be doing homework until it’s absolutely necessary. Every time I put myself in this situation, usually while staring out windows at the blue sky and temps in the upper 50s in mid-November I question why I decided to go back to school as a working adult with a family.
So the question for this week is: have you gone back to school as a working adult/family person? If so what stresses did you face when you did so and if you had to do it all over again would you make the same decision? Do you think that the end result was worth the problems it may have created for you? Have you considered it but decided not to for any number of reasons? If so what were they? Whatever you have to say about this one vote on the sidebar and then comment on below. After you do both of those things feel free to check out our expired polls in the archive or read through the previous posts about polls here.
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November 13th, 2011 at 8:23 am
I finished at Capella in May. With 4 kids in school and active in sports and Girl Scouts, as well as my own work, balancing everything was a challenge.
There were many beautiful days that I was inside writing a discussion topic, or paper, so I know exactly what you mean about your day yesterday.
The result has been worthwhile. My kids know you finish what you start and that education is important and I feel great about my own capabilities.
November 13th, 2011 at 9:22 am
I went to graduate school part-time while working full-time (no children, so that wasn’t a factor), and it was certainly a challenge to schedule my time effectively and get everything done. It was hardest in my last term, where I was taking a full-time class load in order to finish when I wanted to. It helped a bit that I took the summers off, even though it kept me in school longer, so I had a period of time during the year when I didn’t have to spend my nights and weekends on school stuff. Especially since the way my program was structured, there were very few breaks (and short ones when they did happen) during the academic year.
Grad school certainly wasn’t easy, but for me it was worth it to earn that degree, and being able to pull off a 4.0 was nice too.
November 13th, 2011 at 10:22 am
I worked full time in social services while I worked towards a graduate degree that got me my teaching license. My first year of teaching full time and being married I began working towards my reading licensure. I am currently not taking classes this semester while I wait for my letters of recommendation to be turned in so I can finish my master’s in literacy and reading. I still have to finish my thesis classes for my first master’s degree, but the point of that was more to get me the teaching license. The reading master’s is my true passion.
November 13th, 2011 at 11:03 am
I falied, I had intended to go back and once the family got going never did. That’s why I’ve been pushing my kids so hard to continue through Grad School now becuase 1) they’re not working and have the time and energy to do it 2) They’re still in that “learning” mode that makes it a little easier than trying to get back in swing it later in life and 3) I’m still around to pay for it. They’ll appriciate that later I hope.
November 13th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
As you know, I went to school while working full time. However, my job at the time was extremely easy, and I was lucky enough to be able to do a good portion of my schoolwork during my “lunch break” (I use that term loosely) – I still had to do a lot on nights and weekends but it didn’t feel like I had no life at all. I was also volunteering every week, and very involved in a professional association at the same time. For me, it was completely a means to an end – I would have NEVER gone back to school, even for “free”, if it wasn’t required for the job I knew I wanted. It was a really busy 3 or so years of working, going to school, volunteering, etc, but it was worth it in the end because I have a much more satisfying job now that I couldn’t have if I didn’t get my MS.
That being said, I’m not sure I would have made the same decision with kids. I’m very glad I got it done before getting pregnant, and know it would have been a much longer and harder road with a child. I’d do it if it was required for a new career, and I absolutely hated my current job, but only then.
November 13th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
I personally haven’t tried doing school while working, though many people I know have and do. My sister-in-law received a bachelors degree via online training paid for by the company she worked for. My Son and my son’s baby’s mama are both currently “attending” school and working, and raising a kid at the same time. I put attending in quotes because their credit load is low and some courses are online. My son’s company is paying for his credits, he just pays for books.
When I was college age, online wasn’t really an option and raising two kids with two working parents didn’t leave any time for additional education. We couldn’t have afforded it either. Would I go to school now? I can not ever see any benefit to me should I gain a degree in any generalized education program.
I can not really imagine the trade-off that needs to be made to succeed in education when attending to it as effectively a second job.
November 13th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
I was able to finish my bachelor’s degree while raising a daughter and working full time. I must say, although I am glad I have the degree, I have never worked one day in the field my degree is in. I was established in a career and it wasn’t cost effective to take a lower paying job in my chosen field. With my daughter finishing up at St. Kates this year, maybe I will decide it is time to switch careers–or hell–I’m too old to switch… The best intentions fall by the wayside sometimes…. I always thought I would go back to grad school–I was going to be an architect, but I’m probably too old for that too. Maybe after catching up on a few home repairs and all that I have been putting off while I was putting my daughter through school I’ll decide I am ready.
November 13th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
I don’t think I’ll go back to school. One post-high school degree is enough for me. I’ve seriously considered it – first law school, then an MBA. At this point I don’t see how my career would benefit from another degree. That’s not to say an MBA couldn’t teach me anything, but between the huge time investment and the financial cost, I don’t see any way I’d make back what I put in or would be prevented from getting a job that I want due to not having the degree. I realize that’s not true of all professions and I feel for anyone who goes through school with work and a family.
November 13th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
I went straight from undergrad to grad school, and I doubt I’ll go back now that I’m done with that. I was lucky enough to go to a program where I could work half-time as a research assistant. I didn’t have to get a full-time position until the last few years of the program, and that was my fault for slacking off and not finishing in a timely manner.
November 14th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
I finished my B.A. mostly through night classes at Metro State, while also working full time. I did fine, but could have done better.
That’s why, now that I’m considering grad school and/or law school, I’d really like to figure out how to go to school full time so I can focus and do my best work. This will require some entrepreneurial creativity, obviously.
November 14th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
I’m currently in a graduate program at Metro State while working full-time (no kids). I should be done next spring, after nearly 6 years of classes. The only real difficulty I’ve had is that my program requires out-of-class activities that conflict with working hours (classroom hours – I’m in education), which means I’ve had to use up a lot of vacation leave. Oh, and I have to take a 3 month leave from work to do student teaching, which is a drag. Work has been very good about everything, especially considering the fact that I am going to school so that I’ll get a different job and won’t be staying.
November 14th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
I also went to Metro State for my MBA part time while working full time. It took me 5 years (less if I would have been willing to take summer classes). I didn’t feel that it was that difficult for me since Metro does that once a week thing and the homework wasn’t that terribly difficult, if I do say so myself (seriously, if you can write a pretty decent paper or put together a powerpoint presentation, you can get an MBA). I’m glad I got it now, though, before having kids. Some of my classmates had young children and I don’t know how they could read 5 chapters of a Finance or Organizational Management book while the kids ran around (lord knows I could barely be bothered with reading that stuff with only the cats to distract me).
November 17th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
I’ve completed two graduate programs while working 50 hours a week. Got my MA in 2 school years. One of my graduate degrees was while also maintaining the Twin Cities Restaurant Blog. Oh, and I got straight A’s….. at a private University.
November 17th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Number one question I don’t feel like I’ve heard answered very well: was it worth it? If so, what made it worth it? In other words, some people feel a pay increase made it worth it while others feel the knowledge they picked up made it worth it. Still others don’t feel satisfied in any of those areas. The biggest reason I haven’t gone back to school is I’m not convinced I could make much more, and certainly not enough to warrant the expense in time and money. I’m also not convinced (yet) that I could learn something in school that I wouldn’t learn through experience. I work with a guy who graduated a few years ago with an MBA from Carlson and said he didn’t really feel that it was worth it and certainly didn’t encourage me to do it.
November 17th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
I am doing it for two reasons:
1. Aside from my time investment it’s 100% free for me (including books). It would be like throwing away an additional $5500/year if I didn’t take advantage of the benefit.
2. I am very interested in the topic area and if I ever wanted a job related to my degree that paid what I make now I would likely need the advanced degree.
November 17th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
Joey, I think you make a valid point. My husband got his MBA from Carlson about 13 years ago. He has often said that it was not money well spent. He’s self-employed, so the MBA isn’t really critical.
For me, the MBA was about getting back into the work world in a horrible job market after 10 years working part time while raising my kids. The MBA was very worthwhile personally although I’m not confident that the money will follow…
November 17th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Well, ask me in ten years. :)
For me it was a very strong interest in the subject area (and a desire to get better at it), wanting to give myself future career flexibility, my company being willing to pay for part of it, and the fact that advanced degrees are increasingly common in the business world (this was the least important reason for me, but it’s a real thing). Plus the fact that if I was going to do it, I was at the best point in my life to do so, before I had too many other demands on my time.
Carlson actually has the best placement rate for its grads in the nation, even beating the Ivies’ business schools. From what I understand of getting an MBA, it’s really more that than the knowledge itself that is the major benefit — lots of Fortune 50/100 companies recruit heavily from MBA programs, and a person is going to build up a hell of a professional network from going to a good program (the key word there being good).
November 20th, 2011 at 7:01 am
[...] week’s poll asked whether you’ve done school while working. The overwhelming majority of respondents have noted they have attended school while working/being [...]
November 21st, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Joey,
As far as “is it worth it?,” for me the answer is a definite yes. But that’s mostly because I can’t change careers without it. Jobs that have state-mandated requirements (such as nursing and teaching) necessitate further education. Since my current job is not a career nor my dream job, it’s definitely worth the investment of time and money to be able to work in a job I might actually like.