Starting the process

I'm due to start my first online class with the University of Phoenix tomorrow. I'm at the "what was I thinking?" stage right at the moment. Since that's going to take up a portion of my life, you can be sure I'll be posting about it occasionally. I am expecting it to be rather tedious and boring, but something I'll just have to slog through until it's done. I hope I'm wrong about the boring part... it would be nice to feel like I'm actually learning something.

I'm getting my MAED (master of education) with an emphasis in special education.

The thing I notice about my dealings with other teachers at school is that many of them don't seem to have lives apart from school. I'm sure they actually do, but it seems like for many of them, their job is what defines them, and they devote most of their brain space to thinking about school. I just can't do that. School is great, but it's not what I live and breathe for. It's a means to an end, to be truthful. It's something useful that I can do and contribute meaningfully, but if for some reason tomorrow it were no longer there, I would not be devastated.

All that brings me around to the reason why I'm getting a master's in special education. Well, mainly because it lets me keep my job, and it will hopefully get me a little more pay. Plus, there's no reason why I shouldn't have my master's degree... I know lots of total doofuses who have graduate degrees, so I know I can manage it. I've just not had a reason to, up til now. But if I were really just choosing something to get a degree in simply because it was something I loved, I'd probably be doing something with visual arts. Those kinds of courses don't lend themselves well to online learning, however, so until I have a little more time and until I sense that it's what God wants me to do, I won't.

Tonight is Parent's Night at Awanas Club. Should be loads of fun. Nothing I like better than being immersed in a building full of small children. Can you believe I used to teach preschoolers? I did. I guess it's a tribute to God's grace, because it ain't what I'd say is a personal strength. I can manage for short periods, if required, and I can be pleasant. But do I find it fulfilling? Nope.

I'm enjoying my day off. So much, in fact, that I've decided to take the rest of the week off as well. Call it a pre-Spring Break, if you will, but it's serving the purpose of a sick leave... mentally sick, anyway. Shake it up, baby! Twist and shout!