Wednesday, February 22, 2006

i be edumacated

The activity that has undoubtedly consumed me the most for the last two 1/2 years has been graduate school. After being out of college for 6 years and in the IT industry for 4, I got inspired (by a radio ad, as I recall) to go back to graduate school. I chose the Master of Science in Information Systems program at the University of Washington. This program was a hybrid of a technology degree and an MBA - specifically targeting both audiences; half the class (including me) was from a technical background looking to strengthen their skills and expand/apply them to business concepts as well, while the other half were from the business side doing the opposite. About 2/3 of the class work for The Boeing Company, which was footing 90% of the bill. I, on the other hand, am having to foot the bill almost entirely myself. Hello, Federal Direct Loans.

The program went well (I graduated in June 2005) and it felt fantastic to make it through and put that diploma up on my wall. I really did learn a ton about finance, strategy, marketing, etc, as well as object-oriented programming and pattern-based development, and how to integrate them.

Then the school threw us an offer - come back for another 2 quarters, and let your existing credits transfer to an MBA program. 2 quarters, 6 classes, 5 months...that's it, and another master's degree. Shoot...what's another $15K in student loans?? Pretty hard to pass up the opportunity.

So now I'm in it, once again...and our class mantra is "it seemed like a good idea at the time". We can't wait to finish. It's still an amazing opportunity to get the MBA - I'm sure some employer will be impressed by it - but it's sure grueling so far. 2 months down, 3 to go. It really is passing pretty quickly. Doesn't really make the studying any easier, though.

Can't wait for June. I miss playing bass.

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