Decisions, decisions

A little over two months ago I got the brilliant idea that maybe it was time for a brand new life goal, something I could be in charge of and work toward. What is this goal, you may ask? Grad school.

As you can imagine, this is a big decision. There’s a lot of factors to consider from where to go to the time and money it’s going to involve. Not to mention the preparation it’ll take to get there, i.e. a nasty graduate entrance exam, complete with a full prep course, that will cost a nice chunk of change all on its own.

I’ve been pondering if I’m ready to give up pretty much all my free time, my social life and, gulp, my exercise time too. These are all things I value and would have a hard time sacrificing, even though I know the reason you sacrifice is to give up something good for something better. In this case, it would be to sacrifice things I care about in order to improve myself.

Plus, two years of my life is a big commitment. I can see the benefits of why I’d do it, but I’m not getting any younger. This is also more debt than I’ve ever been in for my entire life.

These are all the cons, in case you’re wondering.

The pros are that this is a big goal, something I could accomplish. There’s still plenty of things in life I want that I can’t control, so it’d be nice to have something big like this that I can. It’s more education, better training and may provide a chance for me to advance in the professional world. Quite honestly I can’t picture a world in which I don’t have to work, so isn’t it wise to give myself the best opportunity for professional advancement?

I talked to my supervisor at work about grad school, and she’s in full support of it. She told me my job is perfect for this because it can be flexible, and she also said this will show how serious I am about my career so I can move forward. With support like that, wouldn’t I be crazy to not take her up on it?!

I’ve thought about going the online route, but ultimately decided against it because I want to physically sit in a classroom and have the chance to network with other people. Pretty much everyone I’ve talked to about this has supported the idea. In fact, one person even said, “Nobody ever regretted going to business school.”

I went to an information meeting tonight, and I found myself nervous but excited as I listened to the enrollment counselor talking about the program. I pictured myself in the classroom again (somewhere I haven’t been for quite awhile) with maybe some of the people in the room as my classmates. And I got excited all over again. I’m slightly overwhelmed contemplating it right now … but I still feel good about it.

So, even with reservations, it looks like more school is in my future. Now I’ve got to start on the road to preparation. If I want this, I just have to commit, and then I can go for it!