Somehow I have kept my nose in the books, my eyes focused on my work, volunteer, and community surroundings to learn and apply my newly minted skills. I have learned to apply self-reflection sometimes painfully so to look deep within myself to release unproductive habits, adopt best practices and fine-tune a few new attitudes. All in all I have discovered one year in graduate school has been completely worth the sacrifices, the soul commitment, and the late night oh-crap-why-didn't-I-prepare-better-for-this-paper moments of avoidable misery. There were also a few surprises I wish I knew about so I could adjust my expectations. The following are a few key reflections on choosing a graduate school and, depending on your desired outcome, a few best practices I have found for me.
It's funny to look back and see myself sitting in a community college classroom reading my returned homework with a question from my sociology teacher: "Why aren't you considering graduate school?" I consider myself a dedicated student and all my life I have been engaged in one learning activity after another, yet as I wrote in my paper I never saw myself beyond a bachelor's degree. After I moved to the Washington, DC area academic and professional opportunities became widely available and my mind shifted to learning my newly acquired profession first and pursuing a master's degree once I felt comfortable with my ability to be independent at work.
After that happened three years had elapsed. I began to research leadership programs in the area and online. I could not find anything that felt right to me in the local area. I found one online program which seemed interesting, but the spark did not come no matter how many times I scraped the flint. I set it aside for another year and then one afternoon the curiosity bug bit me and I put organizational leadership in the search box and I found the program. How did I know it was right? The university was in my hometown. I am one of the most nontraditional people out there--but many times I do make choices that take into consideration where I have come from.
What are the benefits of an online graduate program? I was aware of the stigma when I considered the online version. My main reservations leaned towards the quality of the program and the limitations of not interacting with the local community of leaders. First, I did go to UVA when I initially moved here, but I found myself asleep on the metro in a new city. So the safety aspect is reassuring and allows me to budget how much energy I can dedicate to my studies. In one class my final paper was due and I was in bed Friday night with my laptop and books burning off some brain cells when I finished, I shut off the laptop rolled over and collapsed in a thought-free dream state. Second, a great benefit is I can spend more time thinking about questions I want to pose or answers I want to address from another student's post. There are no instant answers from me and more thought goes into the material rather than off-the-cuff responses which, in some classrooms, has often been little more than hot air. I find myself at work with questions and only partial answers come to me; I feel very comfortable requesting time to fully process the thought. Third, I still recall all those students who didn't know when to stop talking, for those who are like that online or quite the opposite add little to no value to the discussion I can skim or skip their responses without being distracted by unusable information. On the other hand, with some effort it has been even more worthwhile to meet leaders across the nation and get a broader perspective. During the times when I have connected with other students, the leadership connection has been equal to that of sitting next to a very smart and interesting person in the classroom. And nobody is giving us "the look" when we are talking! The benefits of this program have shown me more deeply what I can get out of self-learning.
What are the limitations of an online graduate program? To my surprise I have found many professors to be conspicuously absent and provide limited helpful guidance. The burden of getting to know the professors is on the student in most academic situations, but in quite a few classes I have found I did not even want to get to know the professor any better or when I did I got a brush off. The limitation here is I do not feel I am benefiting from the knowledge of leadership experts. I don't feel like there is an academic community to be part of with this online program. Because of this I question what type of leadership the program is advocating. In many cases it feels like an online forum where the individuals keep the momentum. This is useful on its own, but what happens when there is a case of garbage in, garbage out? The best advice I ever got about choosing a graduate school came from a graduate student intern when we were both at the Environmental Protection Agency. She said: Choose a graduate program you love, you will be making many sacrifices and what you choose should be worth all of it. Of course she was in her eighth year of it, so I can only imagine her passion for biology did indeed sustain her. I can say my passion for leadership has pushed me through several tight spots to always come out glad I have taken this path and grateful I have put in the long hours to learn the lessons.
One of the best things I have done is maintain my membership in Toastmasters and although I am not doing a leadership role at the moment, the dedication to public speaking during an online graduate program has helped me become even more articulate, on point, and appropriately entertaining. I can clearly see a difference in myself . Another key practice I have is maintained a commitment to my soul. So what if the program is not always providing high doses of information, I use that opportunity to go inward and find what it is I need in the situation and bring it into my experience. I am in charge of my own destiny. Finally I have always been an extrovert but I constantly reach out to other leaders and even people who have little hope to share knowledge. I cannot tell you how many times these connections have been the best parts of my day.
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