No more last minute writing frenzies. No more tears over a late assignment. No more studying for hours at night after a full day of work.
Who would complain?
I had set my goals at a young age. I would have my masters by the time I was 25-years-old.
But, for some reason once I finished my masters I felt a piece missing in life. I had been in school for eight straight years. It all began in June of 2006 when I graduated high school a year early.
I remember stepping on BYU campus as a freshman and feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. And yet, I saw the world as a possibility.
No more than four months after receiving my bachelor's degree and I was enrolled in a masters program. Was I a masochist? Maybe. In the fall of 2011, I was 23-years-old and on the path for my goal.
That summer I had gotten my first career job as well. A full-time job and full-time school don't really mix. But, I did it.
More than a year passed and despite not being very social I was blessed to meet the man of my dreams and my loyal friend - Eric. It wasn't by chance he came into my life when he did.
Now, at 25 I have a husband, three years of a professional career on my resume, a masters degree, and a new home. If anyone asked me what my life would look like in three years after finishing at BYU I would never have fathomed such a sight.
I sometimes think about my old friend, school. Was it an educational mask that I hid behind? Maybe. Sometimes I feel like I was born to be a lifetime student. The grading scale, the hours of painful studying, and the classroom experience. I enjoyed it. All of it.
As I reflect upon school, and even miss it at times, I realize that I never allowed myself to feel proud. I had done it. I came out of a masters program debt free. No student loans and no financial assistance.
We need to allow ourselves to celebrate our victories. Maybe you woke up happier or you ran three minutes longer than planned. However small or insignificant you may think it is, celebrate. If we fail to celebrate the small moments we will be unable to recall our positive accomplishments in the grey moments that life sometimes has.
In the last three months since finishing school, I've come to realize it was not the final destination and it never should have been. I am a staunch advocate for education and strongly believe in it. But, what I didn't realize, while attending school, was that it wasn't the final goal. It couldn't be. Why? Because if school was my end goal then school in itself would have been a waste of time.
I now look forward to finding ways to use my MPA. Whether I use it in being a better mother or I run for city council or I start my own PR firm one day, I am determined to use it. As we decided what goals we want to accomplish we need to ask the question: why. Why am I pursing it and what will happen once I accomplish it?
When I feel a tinge of longing for the structured classes and new beginning of each semester I will remember one thing: School was never my end goal.
Do you (C) THE JOY?
I do.
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