Getting married and having kids
are some of my dreams. Well, here I am – married for eight years and with two
rambunctious kids. I love every part of it. But I have another dream –
finishing my Master’s degree. I want to start working on that one – soon. I kind
of regret leaving my thesis undone when I decided to come to the United States.
I was working on my thesis at Pamantasan
ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) for Master in Industrial Psychology. It was about
distance learning. Clarification – I do not regret coming to the US but I wish I
had enough time to complete my thesis and actually graduate.
I decided I cannot keep on crying
over spilt milk. I still have a chance to finish where I left off. I have been
waiting for this opportunity to get back to school and finish my Master’s
degree. I saw UPOU on the web and learned that online programs in Graduate
Studies are being offered. A light switch turned on in my head – why not? So I saved
my money. I now have enough money to get me through Master’s without getting
into debt and also while staying home to raise my kids. I learned about Master
of Distance Education through UPOU website and it sounded pretty interesting to
me. I did some research and found out that I can work as an Instructional Designer
(or online professor as my second choice). Instructional Design is a recently
becoming popular career not only here in the US but globally as well. With my
background in Human Resource Training and Development and being innately
curious and interested in training and e-learning, I think this is it for me.
Currently, I am gathering reading
materials and doing some advance reading on Distance Education and
Instructional Design. I am also doing a self-study on web design on the side.
Learning is one of my passions. Studying
at UPOU would allow me to integrate my new skills with the training and
development skills I have acquired from eight years of experience in a business
environment. I am looking forward to upgrading my skills, learning effective
strategies in developing distance education materials, learning more about
technology applications, and applying my skills to actual development of
distance education materials.
Concurrently, I am eager to meet
and collaborate with new classmates and professors. It has been a while since I
have had a conversation with people about school and career as my discussions with
friends consist of kids’ nap schedules, play dates, potty training and such. I can’t
wait to start this new chapter of my life.
While attending school online, I plan
on developing my portfolio and establishing a network with other professionals.
This will help me get a head start at finding work opportunities after I graduate.
I am looking at working as an Instructional Designer in the corporate world or
the academia. If opportunity opens up for me, I would love to gain more hands
on experience working online for UPOU before or after I graduate. Competition here
in the US is stiff and even tougher for newly graduates. Good education and
experience will give me an advantage in a very competitive job market.
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