Destination: Grad School!

It has long been my dream to go back to school to obtain my Master's Degree. There was always something that held me back. During our current social climate of COVID-19, I had time to reflect on that and realize that I held myself back due to fear. Fear of failing. Fear of the financial burden to my family. Fear of taking away from my family. As I was forced into homeschooling, like many other families, I started to see my child having fears of moving forward as well. How could honestly tell her to work through her fears and keep trying when I myself wasn't doing that. I try to parent by example. From there, I started researching programs. From there, I took the step to request my official transcripts...you know...just in case! I fell in love with a program offered from Texas Tech University. It is a Master's of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. I applied on a Tuesday (evening as I procrastinated on clicking the submit button all day for fear of the rejection) and to my massive surprise, received my acceptance letter by email that Friday!

I will focus my area of learning in Educational Psychology, English (historical literature), and Communications. I plan to take this study to the next level and move into teaching at the college or university level. I have always been an educator at heart. I've always mentored people that have worked for me, I currently own and operate a very small private horseback riding facility where I teach children and adults of all riding levels, some with special needs, horsemanship and horseback riding lessons, and I have fallen in love with the traditional education process as I teach my (almost) 10 year old daughter from home. Watching people grow emotionally and intellectually is truly one of my greatest joys.

If you've made it this far in my plea, I applaud you. I'm excited for you all to join me on this exciting and terrifying journey - I mean it has been nearly 20 years since I was last in school! I plan on starting a blog and keeping everyone informed of the wayward mishaps of a middle aged Grad student.

Thank you in advance for joining me on this journey. Your support means more than you'll ever know.

All the best, 
Andrea Hale