This week I finished all of the coursework for my Masters degree from Southern Utah University. It has taken me two years to complete. If you asked me five years ago when I started working full-time if I planned to get a graduate degree, I would have told you, "Nah. I'm good. I don't know what I would get it in." Or "I'm too old to go back to school. I can't remember that. When would I have time to do it anyway? It costs so much money! There is no way I can pay for it." I absolutely would have said any and all of those things. However, I believe that Heavenly Father nudges us towards good things and He had an opportunity for me. I wouldn't recognize it at first, but I have come to understand that being able to get my Masters degree has been a gift. One that would help me further my career, help provide for my family, and build confidence in myself.
There is a terrific quote by a man named John Dewey, "We do not learn from experience. . . We learn from reflecting on experience." I think that is what I am trying to do with this entry. Reflect. What have I learned? How is my life different? What blessings have come my way on this journey of education?
One of the things I have learned is that I have been put in positions that have helped me achieve this goal. For example, by taking a chance and being willing to go back to work full-time, I applied to the librarian position at Kanesville Elementary five years ago. It was scary. I hadn't had a real job interview in twenty years. I had been originally hired part-time for other jobs at the school, but the principal had simply called my home and asked me. This time, I had to write up a resume and cover letter, be interviewed by a committee of teachers, and decide to work full-time. All things that at the time, I didn't feel adequate in doing. That job and first steps into working in a library helped me to gain confidence that I still enjoyed teaching, but that library work was a good fit. I saw myself working in that job for twenty years and then retiring.
Two years later while sitting in a financial self-reliance class taught in my stake, I had the beginning thoughts of "maybe you should look into what it would take to earn a school library endorsement". That year at the annual state school library conference, I picked up a flyer from SUU about their online program. I stuffed the flyer into my bag and started to stew over it. The next week in the self-reliance class, I had the same thoughts and impressions about checking out the SUU program. I finally understood that those thoughts were coming from the Holy Ghost. Although very scared and unsure, I made some phone calls to SUU the next week and took steps to get admitted to the School Library Endorsement program. I started classes that summer term.
What a fantastic and growing experience. I learned so much and made some connections. I was able to be at a point in my schooling that when a few library teacher jobs opened up in my school district, I was qualified and prepared to apply and even offered a job. What a blessing!
One of the really personally significant things about the timing of all of this was that Todd was experiencing some difficult circumstances at Weber State University and ultimately resigned from his job during the first year of my being a high school librarian. It has been a full year since he left the university and started a full-time clinical psychology practice. My job has been able to fill gaps in the finances and provide insurance for our family. What a blessing! I think that Heavenly Father was helping me to be able to help my family not only during that stressful time, but in the future.
During the COVID closure of the school in March 2020, I again felt those impressions to look into what it would take to get a Masters degree to improve my earning power over the long-term. Most fortunately SUU had expanded their MIS (Masters of Interdisciplinary Studies) program to include the School Library Endorsement block. They were so welcoming and since I did well in the graduate level work during the library classes, they immediately accepted me into their program. Because they accept the library program's coursework, I only needed four more courses. Two of those courses were focused on online teaching which has been a crazy blessing for this weird school year. Two days ago, I presented my Capstone project to my graduate committee. I passed and that was my last hurdle. Yahoo!
I am now wondering what's next. I have let my physical health go to the wayside for the past couple of years and I kind of think that has been a time and confidence thing. At this point, I have developed some really bad habits of snacking all of the time, self-defeating thoughts, and generally being embarrassed of how I look. One thing that is really important to me is getting healthy to be here for my family. I want to be able to spend time with them for years and years, but right now, there are many mental and physical habits that I need to fix.
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