Back to school?
May 10, 2009 – 8:49 pmI can clearly remember my mindset during my senior year of undergrad. I couldn’t wait to graduate and enter “the real world.” I was over $80,000 in debt, working 15 to 20 hours a week, all while balancing two majors. I was sick of being poor and sick of going non-stop.
So you can only imagine my excitement when I learned that I would be working at Google immediately after I graduated. I knew that not only did this mean that I was going to have a good paying job in an exciting and innovative work environment, but that this meant I also didn’t really have to enter “the real world” quite yet. Couldn’t get any better than that!
And it has been great. I’ve worked on some exciting projects, met some incredible people, made a dent in my student loans, and even finally had some free time to enjoy my life. What else could I need? Well as it turns out, that same ambition that pushed me through school and got me into Google is now telling me I should go back to school and struggle through it all over again. This means taking on more debt and probably working part time to support myself while taking on a full course load — the same situation that I couldn’t wait to get away from only a few years ago.
It’s taken about a year of thinking to come do this decision, but I’m pretty sure it’s the right one. My interests have gravitated towards UI design and I’ve discovered that a Human-Computer Interaction master’s degree can be very beneficial in that career path. Ideally, I’d like to complete my degree in a year. I’m shooting for starting in the fall of 2010.
I’d also like to use grad school as a way to fulfill another personal goal of mine, which is to return to the east coast. I find it a bit disheartening that with all the universities in Boston, not one of them offers an HCI program. However, CMU has the best HCI program in the country and I could definitely live in Pittsburgh for a year. I don’t think I could ever be a Steelers fan, but I’m more than open to embracing the Penguins as my new favorite hockey team.
So with my decision made, I’ve been studying like crazy for the GRE lately. I’ve got plenty of time to take the test, but I signed up for June just to get it out of the way. I also suck at standardized tests, and my vocabulary is sub-par at best, so I’m spending a lot of time preparing for it.
That’s why this is my first blog post in over a month. Don’t expect another one until after June 13th.
Oh, since I talked about my employer in this blog post, that means you should read this disclaimer.
6 Responses to “Back to school?”
congrats on the decision, especially since it sounds like you’re furthering your career.
couldn’t you perhaps work part-time at Google while getting the degree? I always thought that’s an option, if you can swing it (I think there’s a pittsburgh office)
You should definitely be a Pirates or Phillies fan. I forget which one is closer to CMU. If I were you, I’d just pick the one that’s higher up in the standings.
By Reid on May 10, 2009 - 11:07 pm
@Reid: Assuming I can get into CMU, I suppose part time might be an option. However, I think I’d rather just get grad school over with as soon as possible, so I’d want to be enrolled full-time.
The Pirates are in Pittsburgh, but last I checked there’s no such thing as a Pirates fan. I think it would be strange to be the first one.
By Mike on May 10, 2009 - 11:47 pm
Too bad you aren’t going to Bah-sten, I’m applying to two schools there. But then again, if I left my girlfriend in CA to travel across the country to continue living with you, that might send the wrong message.
…
Pittsburgh should be cool, you can say you rooted for Barry Bonds in two geographies.
By The Dinkman on May 12, 2009 - 10:08 pm
Yeah, I did the work full time / grad school part time thing and it certainly dragged out. I didn’t really think I could afford school full-time, though.
HCI is a great field, related to the Information Architecture part of my degree. I’m not saying you should end up in Kent, Ohio, but I can ask my profs for recommendations on programs on the East Coast if you’d like.
By Jason on May 12, 2009 - 10:12 pm