Going Back to School

 

I got too busy these past months, and I was guilty of getting caught up in the minutiae of life. In my defense, one of the reasons why I had not been journaling for so long is that I pursued a higher level of education.

 I enrolled in a master's degree and started attending classes in June this year. Honestly, I still wonder why I did that. Before, I kept telling myself that I did not want to further my studies, as I was not interested in climbing the higher ladder at work, and I was happy and peaceful being a simple employee who clocks in and out of work at the same time every day and gets paid bi-monthly, maybe, it was peer pressure. I don’t know haha. But, I was grateful that I made this choice. 

 I realized that I did want to get stuck doing the same thing at work for years. I need variety, and I love continuous growth. And, if I ever decide to stay in public service until I retire, I have to have at least a master’s degree under my belt because, of course, skills and experience are important, but a higher degree of education is required to get promoted to a higher position in the government. I am not sure about the governments in other countries, but that is the reality here in the Philippines.

My schooling not only gives me something to do during the weekends but also broadens my horizons in all aspects of my life—career and personal.  Honestly, I hated attending classes at first and regretted enrolling because I usually spend my Saturdays sleeping, watching movies, browsing the internet, or going on trips with my friends.  I was living a nice life, but suddenly, I had to attend class from 7 am to 7 pm every Saturday, prepare presentations, and submit reaction papers on different case studies after work during the weekdays, and study for exams.

I was overwhelmed, and it was hard to juggle between work, studies, and personal stuff, but eventually, it just became my way of life. Now I got the hang of it. My Saturdays are for my education.

Although I am fond of reading and addicted to consuming information, I realized that I read and consume information on topics I am only interested in, which are all the same and limited. But, when the class started, I was forced to read research, case studies, and even laws that were not my interest but interesting to learn and helpful in navigating my career and personal life as a Filipino citizen. 

I am learning more about the Philippine government system. I am taking up a Master's in Public Administration by the way, so my subjects are mostly about government. Still, I also have business subjects like Financial Management, which I enjoy the most because I love discussions about business, investments, and finance haha. I also have a subject about Spirituality, which is the most interesting. Learning about history, different cultures, religions, and beliefs is refreshing, uplifting, and life-changing. I did not know I needed it. Thank you, Lord.

I said that my studies broadened my horizons because, first, I met new people from different professions. I have classmates who are educators, engineers, IT professionals, accountants, doctors, and government employees. When you are exposed to different people, your network widens, you make new friends, and you learn other people's perspectives on things. Second, the tasks given by the professors make me rack my brain forcing me to study and understand hard topics. Those case studies that we are required to read, comprehend, and prepare reactions to, challenge my thinking ability and harness my writing skills. Not to mention the presentation of topics assigned by the professor to each student to discuss with the whole class. It taught me to be keen on researching, take only what is important, and think of ways to present it so that everybody understands. 

During my first report, I was so nervous because the last time I did it was when I was in college. That was ages ago, I do not know if my classmates noticed it but I was too nervous. But, later on, reporting in class became easy and I feel more confident when presenting. I realized that you get used to it when you do things repeatedly. Public speaking is not an exemption. And because I was trained to talk in class, I easily pulled off my first-ever hosting gig during an event attended by 40 participants who were all officers from different government agencies. Yes, I sometimes host our Christmas parties and team building, but this time it was a formal setting. It was very new to me. I, myself, was surprised by the things I could do.

Yeah, school rocks! Taking up my master’s, I learned how to manage my time more, and be a responsible student and an employee. I became focused on my goals and spent less time on things that were not my priorities. 

Learning is enjoyable nowadays. I didn’t expect that I would love to study again. Life is a continuous learning. We should not stop gaining knowledge and experiences. We should grow, and train our brain into thinking hard and learning hard things. If we think we already know lots of things, the truth is we do not. 

We shall continue widening our social network and meeting people, classmates, and mentors, from different walks of life because we can learn something new from each of them, and those learnings and experiences become wisdom that will be forever instilled in our minds, and we can use them in navigating our lives and finding our place in this world. ♥