Tuesday, September 30, 2008

JOINING THE SCHOOL OF FISH

Do I? Or do I not return to school? There’s an extension program near my work site (Saginaw Valley State University) where a majority of educators earn their master’s degrees and siphon more money out of the public school systems. You can’t blame them; the certification rules, along with the “No Child Left Behind” policies, have forced them to. Do I fork over my money, or do I invest it elsewhere?

SVSU has a Masters Degree program in Instructional Technology. Seems interesting. I could become a curriculum development specialist for a public school system, or a trainer for a major corporation, or an animator for Pixar. (Okay, maybe not the latter.)

I’m studying the numbers—my age, tuition cost, salary schedules, the break-even point. It’s a personal sacrifice I’m not sure I’m willing to make. If I do do it, I’ll stretch it out over four or five years. If I don’t, then I’ll remain a small fish in a relatively large pond. I’ll remain a convict teacher that has already exceeded his shelf life. Then I’ll retire and continue with my writing.

I’m undecided.

11 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I've often thought of going back and getting an MFA but I'm not sure what I'd do with it or what it would do for me. At this point I probably won't.

Whitenoise said...

When you study your numbers, don't forget to include the burn-out factor if you stay or the personal-growth factor of seeing new horizons.

Lana Gramlich said...

Perhaps you need to find some time to sit alone, quietly in nature somewhere (where a person can truly think,) & consider the matter further. Conscious reasoning is good, sure, but sometimes it helps to hear the input lurking in our subconscious, too.

the walking man said...

*shrug*...To me it all boils down to personal satisfaction.

ivan@creativewriting.ca said...

Always a caveat when you strive for an advanced degree.

You can bet on something coming from the side that'll floor ya.

Always.

Don't know why.

I got my Master's and lost a wife.
Not such a hot trade.

And then the other teachers will scuttle the thesis that you have given to the college's typing pool.
Canada: Pull him down!

But wow, what a quantum leap this could be for you.
A furlough!

Erik Donald France said...

I got a Ph.D and lost a wife. It was an excellent trade.

Good luck, regardless of choice.

the walking man said...

So if I get educated beyond my current "completed high school" I lose my wife? Is that because I'd put all of my student loans in her name?

ivan@creativewriting.ca said...

Something to be said for both whitenoise and eric donald france.

The burn-out factor.

We men tend to take the great leap at about forty.

No one tell us about the wham.

Seems to come at about the time you're doing your thesis. Stress, stress, and distress.
Can't be twenty foerever.
Oh well, some can handle it.

Jo said...

JR, you should grab the chance. I wish I had had the chance. I would have grabbed it. What have you got to lose?

Never have any regrets.

JR's Thumbprints said...

I'm still undecided. But I think I'll keep my wife. She treats me good.

ivan@creativewriting.ca said...

I'd like to say my fish, The "Quarks",who are in my blog group, are so smart they travel in universities.
And I like to think I am their physician and sturgeon, as I'm sort of good with home remedies, having had kids and their ailments; comes with the terrirory.

I also shake rattles and do rain dances for the Quarks in Austraila And South Africa. I tell them I am an MD of the rain forest and they humour me.
Well, it's too bad I had to get my MD in Haiti where they were busy mking zombies.

Maybe that's how I got to be the way I am.

Ever been to Hati?

Even the fish have effed-off.

And the last living bushes were cut down to make charcoal.

Hm. Maybe I got my MD after all.
But there was no rain forest.
Just the local conjure man.

Shake, rattle and roll.