Fine.
It's 2 weeks and six days. But two weeks sounds better.
This insane, crazy, stressful chapter of my life will be over! I can NOT wait until graduation. I will have completed 101 credits since Fall 2011 and because I applied to the FastGrad program, the longest break I ever had was 2 1/2 weeks off between Fall and Winter semesters 2012. Usually I'm lucky if I can get a full week off between semesters. So umm... I'm not feeling pretty creative right now, but if someone could brainstorm a more effective, appropriate phrase other than burnt out ... that would pretty much sum up how I've been feeling lately. Actually, apathetic is also a good adjective. It's not like I need to keep up my scholarships anymore. And I sort of just don't care.
Here's my most frequent conversation lately:
So, Erika, what are you planning to do after you graduate?
What do I plan to do? I plan to stay home and be a full-time mother.
Oh... well good for you for still finishing school. (or something like that)
The average income for a female who graduated in Music, or who plans to teach music, is pretty much what you'd expect it to be.
Almost nothing.
But I didn't go to school with any career objectives. I studied things that I wanted to and that I was interested in and I learned many skills and a whole new knowledge base of information. I didn't just study "singing" as some people might assume (including my husband when I first started!), and actually, my voice lessons took up a total of 8 credits out of my 120. The rest were theory, composition, pedagogy, education, history, and social science classes.... and of course, 60 credits of generals.
I loved going back to school. There was never one day of school that I didn't feel was worthwhile.
But now it's over, and I am more than ready to finally be able to devote all my time to my family.
I love the short talk here from President Hinckley in 1996 when he said that it's nearly impossible to be a full-time mother and a full-time employee (or student, probably). I've also been really thinking about this short 2 minute clip lately, also.
So those are my plans. And I can't wait.
2 comments:
Congratulations Erika! I hope you truly understand what a huge achievement you've made. School isn't easy. A music major isn't easy. Doing all that while being a mother/wife/etc. is hard, to say the least.
The conversations you mentioned sound familiar. I was having the same ones about a year ago. =)
Working full time with a music degree isn't necessarily lucrative, as you said, but at least now you could charge more for private lessons if you chose to teach someday. =) I know many piano and voice teachers who make a good part time income by teaching. I recently asked one of them what the going rate is for a piano teacher in the area and she told me that they charge about $18 for a 30 min lesson. That's $36/hr for part time work! Not so bad.
Anyway, it's been great to follow your crazy school journey through your blog and I'm excited to keep following as you embark on more adventures in motherhood. Again, congratulations!
Thanks, Ashley! I always loved reading your blog posts about your education adventure and am so impressed that you're still going and getting a Master's Degree! And you have much more going on and more little ones at home to care for.
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