Need Feedback...
Hi All -- I need some commentary here. I have been increasingly thinking of jumping ship from the environmental field because, well, it's depressing (let me know if you want me to elaborate, I just want to stay on topic here. I've thought somewhat seriously about getting into teaching science (manipulating the young minds, and, not going unnoticed, the chance to work at the bar in the summer as well as riduculously better vacation time) , going into retail (opening the fruit stand), and a variety of other options with a varying degree of actualy potential.
I would like to take this opportunity to pose a new option for your commentary: redouble my efforts. This comes from the basic theory that if I were better at it, I'd be able to continue in the field which I love. There are elements of becoming more specialized involved, along with being more knowledgeable, both of which would help me, say, have a conversation about climate change or anything relating to China without collapsing into tears for the future of modern civilization.
So here it is:
Masters in Economics from the University of Colorado at Denver.
Most likely not starting in the fall, but maybe in January 2006. Here is the kicker: this isn't an economic (no pun intended) decision, since my current employer will pay for the whole thing as long as I maintain a 3.0 - there is incentive there. The catch is that I need to stay for a full year after the last reimbursement check clears (after my last class ends), or i need to pay them back some portion of the money they spent. There would, therefore, be a benefit to starting this fall, but I probably can't handle it. I love my school free life right now. I do feel like sooner is better than later though, since I've got a little momentum going right now. I think January 06 is fair.
So here is what I'd like to hear opinions on, if you have them...
1) Options: redoubling the effort, waiting it out for a while to see how you feel, or quitting now and opening a fruit stand
2) MA Economics vs. other degrees (like MBA, or something)
3) University of Colorado? I'm not looking for a big name here, but if CU is really low on the list of schools for economics and you know it, now would be a good time to mention it.
Okay, thanks for any help you can give -- either here or calling me :)
Liz
I would like to take this opportunity to pose a new option for your commentary: redouble my efforts. This comes from the basic theory that if I were better at it, I'd be able to continue in the field which I love. There are elements of becoming more specialized involved, along with being more knowledgeable, both of which would help me, say, have a conversation about climate change or anything relating to China without collapsing into tears for the future of modern civilization.
So here it is:
Masters in Economics from the University of Colorado at Denver.
Most likely not starting in the fall, but maybe in January 2006. Here is the kicker: this isn't an economic (no pun intended) decision, since my current employer will pay for the whole thing as long as I maintain a 3.0 - there is incentive there. The catch is that I need to stay for a full year after the last reimbursement check clears (after my last class ends), or i need to pay them back some portion of the money they spent. There would, therefore, be a benefit to starting this fall, but I probably can't handle it. I love my school free life right now. I do feel like sooner is better than later though, since I've got a little momentum going right now. I think January 06 is fair.
So here is what I'd like to hear opinions on, if you have them...
1) Options: redoubling the effort, waiting it out for a while to see how you feel, or quitting now and opening a fruit stand
2) MA Economics vs. other degrees (like MBA, or something)
3) University of Colorado? I'm not looking for a big name here, but if CU is really low on the list of schools for economics and you know it, now would be a good time to mention it.
Okay, thanks for any help you can give -- either here or calling me :)
Liz
posted by Mom and Dad at 1:00 PM
5 Comments:
Weren't we supposed to slap you if you said you were going back to school?
*slap*
Okay, now that that's out of the way...
Well, for one thing, having your employer pay for your full Masters is tempting, if you ask me. Coming from a place where I have to get a special PO to buy a $40 book, I can tell you, if your employer values you as a resource enough to want to spring for your higher education, you might be at a really good organization. Which would be important if you were going to commit to what, at least three more years there (is that right? 2 for the MA and 1 after that?). As we both know, 5 years is a good chunk of your life to invest in a place - you'd better like it.
I would definitely explore all of your options though. If you're interested in something else, I'd find out what it would take to pursue it.
*slap*
I'm not sure if we were supposed to or not, but it sounded like fun.
I agree with Katie about how cool it would be to have your employer pay for a degree.
On the other hand, as a holder of too many degrees, I'm going to go ahead and say that my gut says the second MA (right after the first) doesn't sound right to me. It's not at all clear to me that you need more schooling to be the best you can be in your field (I'm ignorant about all this, of course), and I have to wonder if getting the MA is about giving yourself a challenge that you don't have in your job right now. I'm totally supportive of your desire to be challenged, but I'm less certain about the idea of seeking that through more education. Can you find those challenges within this job? Can you find them in another job in this field? Can you find them in another field?
I feel like seeking a second MA is a substitute for something else, and that it doesn't lead to direct results in your field (are you going to immediately get hired 2 levels up with an Econ MA?).
But again, those are just my gut reactions (I think that's what you were asking for) so feel utterly free to ignore them.
with love:
*slap*
gotta love physical abuse via the web.
I agree with Sam in that I think another masters may not be the right idea, for the reasons he stated but also because it might look like you're unfocused to a future employer.
which made me think that perhaps that's the truth: you *are* confused/unfocused/unsure/lost in some way. this doesn't have to be a bad thing, although it may feel that way sometimes for sure.
perhaps the answer is to sit back for awhile--think about the last year and where you were a year ago. weren't you driving back from our place in Redlands to LA and talking with Katie about relocating to Denver? As in that was the first time this idea came up and was treated seriously? think about how f***ing much has happened since then, and maybe give yourself a break.
you've: sold a house, bought a house, finished a masters degree, interviewed and gotten a totally new job, moved across the country, said goodbye to a bunch of people, said hello to a bunch of people, started that new job, and the list goes on.
my advice: give yourself a few months to take stock. spend that time you have in non-school mode having a good time, meeting people, being with yourself, seeing if the bathtub works as a bathtub, seeing if it works as a beer cooler, watching every film Russell Crowe has ever made, doing some thinking (yes, about Russell, but also...).
make lots of lists: things you like about your job, things you hate. things you wish you could change about the world, yourself, the environment. things you have changed about that world, yourself, the environment (however small.)
And I think through the lists and thinking and bathtubs you might find out what really makes you happy and sad, and perhaps what makes you happy is being enraged by environmental tragedies and then trying to do something--either about them or about another potential tragedy--however small. or what makes you happy are fizzing bath beads and to hell with the rest of it. it's okay to settle in for a bit and take your temperature. your life won't get away from you.
and a small ps:
as an expert in going to school, I think it easily can be an escape, a cop-out. school is about other people's expectations guiding your actions, about doing what other people tell you, about getting something (a piece of paper) that says you did something. it's easy, even when it's hard. so only do it if it has results, if it truly truly interests you as a topic, if it's truly a career move--I think your recent masters was those things. I don't see this econ one as doing the same things. trust me--I've hidden in classrooms on both sides. better to put yourself out there--figure out what you want, however long that takes. and you will figure it out.
Hello,
*slap*
Now that that's out of the way, let me say this: I don't really know you, and you don't really know me, we are but two hyperlinks in the ether, joined together by some number of degrees of separation. Yet I have just virtually slapped you. Is this appropriate? Discuss.
(Aside: how many degrees of separation do you think exist between any two pieces of information on the web? Do the six degrees between you and Staring In A Movie With Kevin Bacon™ have an analog in the ether? Can I get from The Unofficial "Herman's Head" Fanzine Web Ring to The Zoroastrian DIY Gourd Making Web Repository (in Farsi, natch) in six clicks? Discuss).
So you seek happiness. Environmental policy is not giving it to you, because, well, given the choice between a) having three hundred of their tax dollars returned to them now or b) having potable water available in ten years, people are tending to pick 'a'. Or, rather, the market makes any option but 'a' unattractive and promises that, it, the market, solver of all problems, will work it all out in the end. No really. Pay no attention to that pesky mercury. Thanks, Invisible Hand of Capitalism, for that hollow sense of reassurance. As long as my own behavior doesn't have to change in any inconvenient way.
I'm sorry, what was I talking about? Discuss.
Question: were you happy when you were in school?
Another question: top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the '80s and '90s. Go.
Sub-question: Is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins? Is it better to burn out or fade away?
Real Question, though not so a much question: I don't know about you, but I've noticed that I've pretty much never ended up where I was headed in life (Have math degree. Went to graduate school. Dropped out. Ended up in IT. Dropped out. Abruptly went to acupuncture school. Rinse, lather, repeat). Examine the question not from the perspective of where you think you're headed in life. If you got up tomorrow and had to go to class (for your MBA), how would you feel? Happy? If you had to get up and run your fruit stand, how would you feel? If you had to go stand in front of a class of young, easily manipulated minds and attempt to teach them something, how would you feel? Discuss.
Burn out. Definitely, burn out.
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