Waning Enthusiasm

A little over a year ago, I started something that I should have started a decade ago, but I never did. That something is my Master's Degree. Now that I am officially 90% complete with the program, I am happy to have done it, but my enthusiasm level is gone.

I am pursuing my degree through Arkansas State University. The program has been ideal for me for several reasons. First, the degree is completely online, and I have only had to take one class at-a-time. Also, each class is only five weeks in length, so it is easy to earn a lot of credits in a short amount of time. Finally, the program has been quite affordable for me.

Out of all of these benefits, the five week class length has been my saving grace. It's fairly easy to put up with anything for only five weeks.

I am going through the program with several other teachers in my building, and it has been so helpful to be with people that are exactly in the same boat as myself. When we all went through the statistics class, I think we only communicated through glazed-over expressions and grunts indicating how many more weeks we had in that class.

I have one more class to go, but I'm spent. This most recent class was a struggle for me, because I just didn't care. Up until that point I had earned all As, and I had a laser-like focus on that 4.0. But my philosophy changed during that class. I just wanted to get it over with, and my sentiment was echoed by most of my coworkers.

Fortunately I did enough to earn my 9th A in-a-row. So even though my tank is running low, I am motivated to get that last A. Unfortunately, I have to wait until April. The last class is considered to be a capstone class, and it is only offered at certain times.

So I have several months to prepare myself mentally for this last class. Right now my enthusiasm level is really low, but come April, it will need to be higher. Oh hell, even if it's not, I'll be ok. It's only for five weeks.