Saturday, February 14, 2009

Back to school


"Back to school, back to school... to prove to my dad that I'm not a foooolll...I've got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight! Ooohhhh, back to school..." Anyone know where that song comes from? You should.

So, yes, I am going back to school. I NEVER thought I would be interested in getting my Master's degree, but things change and now I really want to. Here in Japan on base the "Navy College" has different educational opportunities for people. Basically, certain schools have contracts with the Navy and they have small campuses on base. The grad programs are very limited, but of the two they have I actually am quite interested in one of them. So, after researching it and thinking about it for a few months I put in my application and will be starting classes soon :)

I am going to the University of Oklahoma to get my master's degree in Human Relations. In this degree I plan to direct my studies more towards working with "at risk" teens. It is an interest I have always had and kind of forgot about for a while. I don't think I want to do counseling exactly, but I have always wanted to work at a horse ranch/rehab center. I know that getting this degree will open more doors for jobs in the future and hopefully it will help me work with teens in some way.

The program is pretty straight forward. It could take as little as 15 months. The class is not set on the normal semester schedule, but I will have regular classroom classes (which was what I absolutely wanted). it won't even cost that much. However, both Brian and I have a lovely mountain of debt from Brooks that we are trying to pay off, so this is going to be all out of pocket. If I have to take a semester off to save up for another class that is what I will do. I do plan to apply for many scholarships so if any of you know of any good ones, pass the info on! Any scholarship information would be VERY much appreciated! Free money always sounds like a good idea to me... so if any of you have any advice I am all ears.

2 comments:

Kristan. said...

Of all the schools...the University of FREAKING Oklahoma?!?! Traitor! That is blasphemous to this Texan. Oh well. It's cool that you're going back to school, though. Been thinkin' 'bout it myself. Don't know what I want, though. When do you start? Good luck!

The Zauss Family Blog said...

Great Idea. Wow! Hey, Barney has had this great idea he is kicking around lately and is recruiting Jennifer for ideas as well. He wants to open some sort of Teen Foster residential group home. Our area is in need of homes for teens and it would have room for couples to live there in seperate residential areas on location. Equestrian Therapy, pool table, ping pong, Wii,etc. and some sort of reward/Consequence system built in for the youth. If you are interested let us know. It will be in the country. Not far from here probably. It will likely take as long as your masters degree so let us know if you are interested or have any ideas. Love ya!