The Happiness Thread

I am not as hungover as I thought I would be from last night's celebration. Happy New Year!

 

I had some Coor's Light in the fridge and a full bottle of Crown Royal under the sink and didn't drink a drop for New Years. I'm officially old and boring. I need to go ahead and get my Master's degree, then go out and buy one of those gawd awful polyester blend vintage plaid smoking jackets, and learn how to smoke a pipe.

 

Hey, I bought three pairs of "big boy" shoes over the summer (leather soled brogues), got a Harris tweed jacket with elbow patches, and a growing collection of waistcoats.

It's fun.

Really.

<stares at a picture of a mohawked 17 year old Iain A. and sobs>

 

You know I've asked several people about whether a Master's is worth it and I can't get a definitive answer from people. I graduate next semester with my BA in Criminal Justice with a Minor in Police Sciences from Eastern Kentucky, which I think is like #15 in the country of all universities for Criminal Justice and is a top 5 university in Police Sciences. I live about an hour and a half from the main campus, but they have an online Master's degree program that is 30 hours that I was told if I tried hard and wasn't working while doing it, I could finish in a year. Their online Master's program is also in the top 5-10 in the country. My main choices are Emergency Management or Policy and Leadership. I just don't know what to do to be honest. I have some people telling me the extra debt isn't worth it, while I have others saying the extra education and training could land me a pretty good job somewhere.

Thoughts? Anyone?

 

The younger you do it, the better. I've looked at a Master's in Education, and I'm really not sure if the lifetime payout at my age and circumstances is worth the cost. Plus, I work somewhat more than full time, and I'm told that realistically, to do a Master's, you need to be working somewhat less than full time, which I can't afford to do. You're not that much younger than me, take a hard look at your projected career path and earnings. Might be a great idea, might not.

 

I am going for my Masters soon, but I also have no debt from my previous education. Also, if my parents decide to bring up a questionable area of my life I can say "Hey, at least I have a Masters."

If the field you are wanting to work in offers a significantly higher pay for those who do have a Masters I say go for it....otherwise, it seems there wouldn't be a lot of incentive.

 

Well that's the thing, with both Master's I'm looking into, they are basically management type situations therefore I could not only make better money, but also it is less physical a position and therefore I could work to an older age no problem.

 

Maybe do more research on whether or not you'd be more likely to get a job with MA? The standard in my country is to do MA as well, so to me this wouldn't be a no-brainer, but it's probably different over there? Especially 'cause you have the debt thing.

I think I'd look up information about the jobs I'd want to apply for in the future, the requirements, the usual career path, the current employment rate and so on. I don't use LinkedIn, but I'd imagine it'd be possible to scour people's resumes there to get some kind of idea what kind of background they have in the fields you'd want to work in? Does your current university have some kind of career counseling? When I was doing my BA, career seminars and forums were held pretty frequently throughout the year or you could book an appointment with a counselor.

Good luck!

 

Yeah I talked to my counselor and of course he said he always recommends further education... but then again he works for the University so why would he steer students away from going to school there and the University making money?

 

Well, if his arguments aren't convincing enough, he might be just trying to dupe you into throwing your money away. Not sure how profitable institutions universities are.

 

I've never heard of a master's being considered a bad career move. The question has always been, is it worth getting a PhD over a M.S? That of course is an entirely different conversation. From my understanding, in the work force, there is a clear positive distinction between masters and bachelors, considering that bachelors are rather common these days. I know a few people with jobs go back for their master's in order to get a higher pay.

Obviously, you don't want to listen to people telling you it is/ is not worth it, simply because they did /didn't do it themselves. What you should do is find out what the people who took the master's program in the past are doing now. Do they have good jobs? This information should be accessible. You could even ask the people running the program.

 

@Lewdog, happiness is an afternoon polishing your shoes (not the suede one, obviously):

 

I don't know anything about the degrees involved and can't say if/if-not the degree 'is worth it' (disclaimer off) but:
I'd go for it.

Logically:
+Masters: maybe pay-off, maybe fun, maybe an interesting job down the line
- Masters: need to pay off money later, a year later in job
==============
In this equation: there is no serious drawback (apart from a debt) when taking the masters. So...
Money can always be paid back, and you buy yourself a chance. Might not come to anything, but what if it would and you didn't get the degree?

but then I'm not the most objective. When I hit thirty I went back to university for BA, MA, PhD in a second career path and I've never regretted it.

 

You need to find a new profession.

 

Never said I was good at it...

 

So I found out that the Federal Government gives you a loan of $20,500 a year for graduate school whether you go to school full time or not. And if I go to school full time, taking two 8 week courses for a total of 4 courses each semester, I can graduate in one year... but then I would only have $2,500 to live on, and doing all that work for school I wouldn't have time to work. So I couldn't afford to do that. But if I only take one 8 week course, for a total of 2 courses each semester... I still get the same amount of money. That's so freaking dumb... Why would they want you to take longer to get your degree!?!??! It makes it more convenient for me to take two years instead of one. I could take only 6 hours per semester, work part time, and not be broke, but have it take longer. I'd have to take like one class during the summer each year to make sure I finish all 30 hours. Why do they make it like this?!?!

 

Refer to the word - Government - to answer the question "why do they make it like this?"

 

One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go cat go.
...

...
Sorry couldn`t help myself there.

 

Damn straight, I was waiting for it

 

The events of the last two days (involving the viral video of the handicapped guy being tortured) left me with absolute disgust with humanity, I was this close to just giving up and awaiting our inevitable doom when I saw something on Facebook that reminded me that yes, humans aren't all 100% evil. Humans do have a chance. We can do this!

I will post the relevant part from his post.

Humans, you keep being awesome and learning from your mistakes. You can do this!

 

I got in contact with my old doctor I've been trying to hunt down. I talked to him yesterday. After almost 25 years I finally got my chance to thank him personally and ask him a few questions. He also got my letter which is a huge sigh of relief. I wasn't sure if he got it or not. It was the best 5 minute phone conversation of my life

 

Kicking ass on my Colonial Mystery. Chapter One is getting along pretty well. I've been missing Amos Garnier.

 

The guy that stood me up a month ago (I think I spoke of this in the Not happy thread) got in touch with me. He apologized and also confessed his undying love.

I am happy that he apologized (although the whole confessing his love part makes no sense to me).