inversed's Blog

Sometimes I ponder my decision to return to school to finish my degree. It'd be far less burdensome (economically, emotionally) if I had just found another job that paid the bills.

When I left school in 2000, I had a day job that I promised to stay at least 6 months; I stayed 6 years. I never enjoyed it, it was never a career, but they kept giving me money so I kept coming back.

They never paid me what my responsibilities were actually worth, but just enough not to look elsewhere. Just enough that we were comfortable on two salaries. Just enough to allow us to go on adventures.

Then one day they said they could no longer afford me.

Poof! No job, no money, no ideas.

So I took a couple of weeks to gather my wits. We drove to Chicago.

Weighing our options, we took my layoff as a blessing in disguise. I reenrolled at my previous university for the fall. Took a couple of summer classes at the local comunity college to get back in the swing of things.

The fall semester started on high expectations and then proceeded to suck. I remembered all the reasons why I left. I still managed to pull Dean's List for the semester, but I didn't enjoy it.

This semester is appearing to be even worse. If I can survive, I graduate in May. If I can survive….

Sometimes I have my doubt about if this is really worth it. I'm spending a boat load of our savings, even more in debt, for a piece of paper that I'll most likely just hang in my bathroom. Is all the stress, the hardship, the self-doubt really worth it?

My wife thinks so.

So yeah.

(The motivational running joke we have is once I graduate in May, my wife and I will flip a coin to see who gets to go to Grad school in Hawaii….)