One of my co-workers is thinking about applying to graduate school, and she and I were talking about the various programs she’s considering. It got me to thinking about graduate school for me. I’ve considered going to grad school off and on since college. Just before I got the job with my current company I actually applied to a bunch of programs, because at the time, all I knew was that I was miserable doing what I was doing and something about my life had to change. Lucky for me, I did end up in a job that I loved, and have continued to love as it has evolved over the years, because I never did get the whole grad school thing sorted out.
I’ve kind of always thought I would go to grad school at some point. I mean, I liked school, for one thing, and there’s still plenty of subjects I find interesting and don’t know nearly enough about yet. But I’ve never known exactly what I should go to grad school to study. I could get an MBA, but have you seen the classes you have to take to get an MBA? Snoozeville. I get way more out of just showing up for work every day. I thought I might be interested in a creative writing program, but I just checked out a couple of the ones at the schools around here, and I’m not sure I’d be a good fit there either. Improving my writing skills and doing more with my writing is high on my list, though. Maybe I just haven’t found the right program yet. Or perhaps I could try something like a writer’s workshop. I like history, but I can’t picture myself doing anything with a history degree, so that would be a whole lot of work and money just so I could have a Master’s or a PhD. I don’t really have that kind of free time or money. I’d really have to be going back to school for a reason.
Of course, right now I am quite happy where I am, doing what I do every day. I suppose one day that could change, but for now, I’ll try not to worry about it. Those of us without a graduate degree call that the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” philosophy.
See, I've always thought I'd avoid any more school like the plague. So far, so good :-)
Having gone to grad school (for a painful 5 years) I say don't do it unless you are sure that you want to and sure about what you want to study. Grad school is not like undergrad where you can learn lots of interesting things about lots of subjects. You get in depth, you learn more about the subject than you ever wanted to know. And it ain't cheap, either. So take some non-degree classes. Join a writing workshop.