 |
| I had to make a visual representation of where I am currently in my career, so, uh, ta da! |
I composed the following post for one of my class assignments and decided to re-post it on my lovely EduBlog. Enjoy!
I am very excited to begin this new journey in my educational and professional career. I am most excited to see myself as a student once again, as it has been ten years since I completed my master’s program, and, in that time frame, I have occasionally wondered whether I would approach school differently if I were to be in school at this stage of my life or if I would have a greater appreciation for being a student than I did years ago, when being a student was all I knew, as I had not yet begun my career. With as excited as I am to begin this new chapter, I know that I will face a variety of challenges in the years ahead.
I was strategic about when I applied to this Ed.D. program: I currently live a life that is mostly free from distractions from my work, as I reside in Virginia while my parents and most of my friends live in Michigan and my boyfriend lives in Florida, so I have a lot of time to focus solely on myself and my professional advancement over the next few years. At this point in time, I have also been at my current teaching job for over five years, so I am comfortable with the curriculum and have felt like I have been in “autopilot” mode for the last couple of years, finding new ways to save time both with lesson planning and grading while planning and revamping creative lessons for my students.
COVID-19 complicated life in ways that nobody could have previously anticipated. I now find myself living in an everyday world that is unfamiliar, when I had originally planned to do this program while living in a world that was more “comfortable”. I have to learn new technology and new platforms at work while also doing the same for my Ed.D. program. I am so used to feeling like the person who is technologically competent, yet now I am intimidated by my lack of familiarity with the new platforms and apps I must learn.
In the months and years to come, I hope to build a strong support system consisting of the faculty, my classmates, and my loved ones. My hope is that the faculty will be reachable and approachable, especially as I can be the kind of student to want to ask many clarifying questions about assignments and expectations, sometimes at odd times of the day/night. I will also need support from my fellow classmates, and my hope is that we will be in frequent communication with one another, both to discuss assignments and just to decompress. The faculty and classmates I met via our Zoom orientation last week all seemed very welcoming and approachable, so I am optimistic about very quickly building a support system consisting of the faculty and my peers.
I will also need the support of my loved ones. In my particular situation, I am used to not seeing my loved ones frequently, so I am not sacrificing any time with them in order to complete this program. My boyfriend completed his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering a little over three years ago, and starting this Ed.D. program has opened doors to new discussion topics and new shared experiences between us. For instance, after orientation last week, I asked him if he had ever used Mendeley, and he responded that Mendeley was how he got through his qualifying exams. I am hoping he can give me some tips about Mendeley in the weeks to come!
The last bit of support I will need is technological support. The sheer amount of new technology I have to learn both for my job and for the Ed.D. program intimidates me, and I know there will be plenty of bumps along the way. I hope I can easily find support from the faculty, my peers, and even my loved ones when I have questions about the technology we are using for this program.
In terms of non-course experiences that I would like to have in this program, I am excited about the prospect of potentially presenting my research at conferences. I attended my first educational conference during my master’s program in 2011. My cohort attended the MACUL Conference in Downtown Detroit and watched a number of presentations from educators about their use of educational technology in the classroom. It would be extremely meaningful to me if I could have a full-circle moment and someday make my way back to the MACUL Conference, where I first fell in love with the world of educational technology.
I would also appreciate talking with other people who have an Ed.D. in educational technology and hearing about their current lines of work. I actually do not personally know anybody who holds an Ed.D. in educational technology, but I know that I will meet some people who do in the years to come. As of right now, I envision myself using my degree to become an educational technologist in a K-12 setting, but perhaps there are other uses for an Ed.D. degree that I had not previously considered or options that I do not know even exist at this point in time.
I have been reflecting upon how I would need to adapt my lifestyle or habits in order to succeed. When I reflect back upon my boyfriend’s experiences in his doctoral program, I was shocked that he managed to find the time to go to bed early and eat three square meals a day almost daily. I had previously pictured doctoral students as people who are awake into the wee hours of the night/morning, consuming their caffeine and waking up frazzled, often not changing clothes for days. How did he budget his time well enough to take care of himself so well? He did not waste any time throughout the day sitting around and doing nothing or scrolling social media for hours, habits to which I can sometimes fall victim. Each task he completed had a purpose, and he managed to get everything done while still budgeting time for self care. This, I believe, is the key to my success for the next few years. I want to be disciplined enough to budget my time well so that I can take care of myself physically and psychologically while still keeping up with my tasks for work and course load for my Ed.D. program: I need to cut the “time wasters” that can lead to procrastination and a lot of unnecessary stress later on.
I also need to learn when to say “no.” At work, I have the tendency of saying “yes” to almost anything asked of me, as I am usually flattered just to be asked. As a result, I run Yearbook Club, Student Council, and Shakespeare Club: more clubs than any other teacher at the school. Dr. Varun Grover (2005) states in 10 Mistakes Doctoral Students Make in Managing Their Program that “saying ‘yes’ to every opportunity…could be counter productive [for graduate students]. Spreading themselves too thin could distract students from moving forward programmatically” (p.12). I need to remember that it is more important to invest more of my time and energy into a few projects, both at work and in my doctoral studies, with which I am passionate than it is to be involved in a large quantity of projects and that I don’t have to say “yes” to a project or opportunity just because it is offered to me. I have currently cut down my extracurricular involvement to just one club, as there are no after-school clubs permitted this school year, so that will free up some time.
Now here I am, sitting alone in my bedroom, decompressing from my first full week back with my students and clutching my new 7th Edition Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, beginning a journey that I know will change my life. My hopes are high, both for the program itself and for the future, and I am so happy to be diving into this work.
Here's to a new adventure!
REFERENCE:
Gover, V. (2001, May). 10
Mistakes Doctoral Students Make in Managing their Program.
http://www.decisionsciences.org/DecisionLine/Vol32/32_3/32_3phd.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment