Guess who's going to grad school tomorrow...

Me. It's me. I am going to grad school tomorrow to start my masters in education with an emphasis in literacy. And the funny thing is I decided to apply at about 4:00 this afternoon and the director of the program told me about an hour later to come to class tomorrow. I am now a ISU Bengal. Last spring there were rumors floating around about an Idaho TEACH grant that would pay for $8000 dollars of tuition towards a masters. Well ISU put a literacy masters together for teachers in the upper Snake River valley and hold classes in Rexburg instead of Pocatello. Classes started last week, but they are still taking people and sent an email out today to try to draw more flies to the honey. I got sucked in and have paid the application fee so I guess I'm stuck too.

I am really nervous and it is a huge commitment. The catch with the grant is that within 8 years of graduating you have to teach for 4 years in a lower-income school. The lower-income part is easy because most schools in Idaho are considered low-income compared with the rest of the nation, even mine which is considered more affluent for this area. The hard choice is the whole four years of teaching part. I had a major dilemma about this for an hour or so but was then talked into it anyway by my husband and dad.

I want to start a family, with all my heart, but we all know how that has worked out over the last three years. Point being I can’t just sit around waiting for that part of my life to start, feeling sorry for myself and letting opportunities like this pass in hopes that next month things could change. I love being in the presence of little ones, and I really want my own, but I think I am just going to have to borrow everyone else’s for awhile longer. (And if that happens to change I think I will be all the more happy!)

Here are the reasons I am doing my masters with ISU:

• I will get my masters in two years with the ISU program. It will be tough but once it is done, it’s done.
  
• It’s close to home! Rexburg is only 20 minutes away and I can go study with my hubby at BYU-I after class.
  
• It will cost me about $4000 dollars after I get reimbursed with the Idaho TEACH grant. Most post-graduate degrees are way more expensive.
  
• It will move me over to the second to the last step in the JSD #251 pay scale. I’ll still have to climb the ladders but I will get there a lot faster. I plan on going back to teaching eventually, even if we do have kids, so it will be nice to walk into a raise.
  
• My friend Heather and my next door neighbor Clarissa are also doing the program so I will have some study buddies.
  
• I love literacy. Most educators either get their masters in administration or curriculum. I’m not really interested in either, so I think the literacy one will fit me perfectly.
  
• I love learning new things. I’m not crazy about doing homework, but I think the subject matter will be pretty interesting.
  
• I love teaching my students how to read. It’s fun for me to see the light bulbs flicker on. This is going to make me a better teacher and in turn help me help more kids.
  
  Here comes another adventure!!! I’m really excited and I hope it all works out.