I stepped away from writing here for a while. I have been spending my time completing a master's degree, looking for opportunities to teach online, and taking care of my mother. Caring for my mother has become increasingly more significant as her health has continued to decline. This is one of the main reasons for my desire to teach online. Working from home would allow me to be there for her. Also, I have learned to love online learning. I have found it to be the best format for me and my learning style. Working from home allows me much more control over my environment, which enables me to minimize distractions. And the asynchronous nature of the courses allows for life's unavoidable interruptions to happen without added stress.
In attempting to make the best of this situation, in addition to pursuing teaching online, I have realized that there is no time like the present to pursue another one of my passions. I have always enjoyed writing, though I have been limited to mostly writing essays for my degree programs. I would like to try my hand at writing for magazines, something I have been thinking about since I was a kid, propped up on my bed, flipping through Seventeen. Reading magazines has always felt indulgent to me. It's easy reading, unlike many of my textbooks over the years, and it allows me to choose content that is tailored to my interests, even those outside academia. As a writer, I would be able to tailor my pieces to my interests as well. This would feel incredibly decadent as the topics for my academic essays have always been limited by the courses I have taken and the professors who oversaw them.
I hope to carve out more time for blogging too, as life allows. I am looking forward to seeing how things progress, and where this journey ultimately takes me. It feels as though this chapter of my life is coming to an end, and I can't wait for the next one. I think it's going to be a really good one.
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Monday, March 27, 2017
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Making the Best of the Detour
The one thing that I have done for myself, while taking care of my mother, is to work toward a master's degree in educational psychology. While my bachelor's degree is in astronomy and I intend to earn a Ph.D. in astrophysics, I chose this particular master's program because I want to be the best teacher that I can be as a future university professor.
Looking back, I can remember sitting in an undergraduate physics course in a large lecture hall observing my professor and thinking that he looked as though he clearly would rather be doing his research instead of teaching the mass of students in that space. It was at that moment that I realized that I did not want to be like him in that regard. While I do want to do research and write, I also enjoy teaching. I want to be the best that I can be at all three. So, before heading off to work on my Ph.D. in astrophysics, I decided to go for this master's degree in education.
There was another motivation for choosing this program in learning, cognition, and development, though. In addition to being the best teacher that I can be, I also want to be a better student. It is really important to me to not only be able to effectively deliver content to my students as an instructor, but also to be able to share with them what I have learned along the way as a fellow student. In addition to showing them what we know about the universe, I want to show them how they can maximize their academic performance and guide them in the direction of their dreams. In other words, I want to be for them the professor that I needed when I was where they are.
I was once told that one of the keys to happiness is to have a flexible path with regard to reaching for your goals. The lesson here is that when something like family responsibilities takes you on a detour, no matter how long, you can still keep heading in the same general direction. The important thing to remember is to keep taking steps in that direction every day. Persistence will get you there, no matter what the obstacles are. You just have to figure out how to go around them, or as in my case, through them.
Looking back, I can remember sitting in an undergraduate physics course in a large lecture hall observing my professor and thinking that he looked as though he clearly would rather be doing his research instead of teaching the mass of students in that space. It was at that moment that I realized that I did not want to be like him in that regard. While I do want to do research and write, I also enjoy teaching. I want to be the best that I can be at all three. So, before heading off to work on my Ph.D. in astrophysics, I decided to go for this master's degree in education.
There was another motivation for choosing this program in learning, cognition, and development, though. In addition to being the best teacher that I can be, I also want to be a better student. It is really important to me to not only be able to effectively deliver content to my students as an instructor, but also to be able to share with them what I have learned along the way as a fellow student. In addition to showing them what we know about the universe, I want to show them how they can maximize their academic performance and guide them in the direction of their dreams. In other words, I want to be for them the professor that I needed when I was where they are.
I was once told that one of the keys to happiness is to have a flexible path with regard to reaching for your goals. The lesson here is that when something like family responsibilities takes you on a detour, no matter how long, you can still keep heading in the same general direction. The important thing to remember is to keep taking steps in that direction every day. Persistence will get you there, no matter what the obstacles are. You just have to figure out how to go around them, or as in my case, through them.
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