When I wrote the goals statement for my application to Michigan State University’s online Master of Arts in Education program, I envisioned a different future than the one before me now.  Back in the spring of 2011, I was the mother of a four-year-old only child.  He was growing out of his baby shoes, gaining independence, and I was regaining “me time.”  I was happy in my position as my school’s Director of College Guidance, and I was growing a small private practice.  I wanted a master’s degree to better serve my students and to qualify for more leadership roles in my current position.

 

Because I am frequently called upon to analyze and recommend school policy regarding curriculum, state compliance, faculty training, etc., I sought to “enhance the knowledge and authority with which I make recommendations to the rest of the school leadership.”  To that end, most of my coursework has focused on educational philosophy and theory, with topics ranging from career development to the impact of technology on learning.

 

My experience with students with disabilities also inspired an interest in pursuing a second concentration in special education.  Our school has since added new learning specialists to the faculty, so my role in this area has been reduced.  I have not pursued this concentration, but I did complete a course called “Serving the Needs of All Learners,” which provided a survey of the most common learning disabilities, the laws protecting students with disabilities, and research on best practices to support their needs. 

 

I replaced that intended second concentration with one in literacy.  It wasn’t something I had considered at the time of my application, because I am no longer a classroom teacher.  As a mother and the college counselor at a 12 month – 12th grade school, I advocate a solid foundation in literacy as the best preparation for a rigorous curriculum, a liberal arts education, and career preparation.  The literacy concentration has provided a background that allows me to enhance that advice with specifics.  It has also enriched my personal reading life.

 

Before I found MSU’s online program, I thought my own educational goals would have to wait until my son was grown.  I couldn’t imagine spending evenings in a local classroom while someone else put my little boy to bed.  The online MAED has freed me to pursue my goals with relatively little sacrifice required from my husband and son.  Still, life has a way of unfolding in unexpected ways.  One week into my first class, just as I was adapting to the demands of graduate school, we were overjoyed to discover that another child was on the way.  My daughter was born one week after I turned in my final paper for Adult Career Development.  I have managed every reading assignment, discussion, and paper despite prenatal insomnia, maternal sleep deprivation, demanding feeding schedules, and the rest of the crazy juggling act that is motherhood.  It has been the greatest and most fulfilling challenge of my life to balance it all.