It’s almost the time of year that I scour through graduate program applications for Master’s Programs that I may want to take to in the upcoming semester. Usually, by the time I get serious about applying to a program, I either find myself pregnant, or I’ve missed the application deadline. There is something about the beginning of the year that makes me want to start something new. The feeling usually wears off by the time that the snow melts.
As a result of my chosen liberal arts education, there is a temptation to continue schooling for two reasons: 1) I’m good at it and 2) maybe at the next education level, it will open the door for more money or more interesting work. I joke with my family that I have a degree in reading and that I can read stuff real good. Does my unpractical education bother me? Sometimes.
Since I’ve had children, I have been thinking a lot about my education growing up in Prince George and my husband and I have compared a lot about where is the best place to educate our children, here or in a big city. I felt that in high school, you had to choose between liking Science and Math or liking English, Literature and Drama. If you didn’t know what you wanted to do “when you grew up” (and who does at 16?) then you were strongly encouraged to take sciences so that you had the “most options” at post-secondary. This is stupid. Why would liking the Sciences preclude you from loving English? Why can’t we love both. My husband, at his high school in Surrey, was able to be an actor, musician and a chemist and he also occasionally reads books, too.
I love books and language so much that it’s really boring for other people. My favourite historical moment is the Great Vowel Shift. People never ask me to talk about it. Never. But I also have really enjoyed learning how to code websites and basic computer programming. I also enjoyed basic biology and chemistry in high school. But I felt like I had to choose between science and art. And that’s a dumb choice. I wish that the division between the arts and sciences wasn’t so strong and that there was more of a blurred line between the two disciplines. However, if I had to take a statistics class, I probably would have flunked out of university.
Will I continue my education? Probably not this year, but one day I will go back to school. Because even if I don’t make much money as a result of my education, learning keeps you young. I might even take a few science courses to round out my education. Maybe.
