Education
I've been thinking about education today, and how I enjoyed that TESL course I took and enjoyed being back in a classroom. I was so much more engaged than I'd been in past classrooms, when I was actually in school. The difference was that this class was a fun break from my day-to-day life, and not the other way around.
Anyway, this got me thinking that I might enjoy going back to school, and I might get much more out of it this time (perhaps actually retain some knowledge:)). I'd really like to get a Masters degree in something, sometime in my life. A Masters in TESOL would be very useful, career-wise, but I'm just not -that- into the research and theory around teaching ESL, at least not at this point in my career.
An MA in English is what I'd really like to do and could imagine getting excited about, but I don't know how to do that kind of thing anymore. My BA feels a million years away. I wouldn't even know how to apply, or who to ask for reference letters. I was never very close with any of my profs while I was in school, and now I barely remember any of their names. There is only one prof who I do remember very well and who I had for more than one class - my creative writing prof Suzette Mayr. However, I did a very stupid thing when I was completing my BA. I was at the very end of my degree and sick to death of school - I was stressed, underslept, and I just wanted to be finished already! So, when it came time to write Suzette's review I wasn't very nice. And then, to top it all off, I wrote something in the review that clearly identified me even though they're supposed to be anonymous. At the time, I couldn't care less about it and felt that once school was behind me, it would remain out of my life and forgotten. However, now I can't bring myself to contact the only prof who might remember me. Also, it makes me wary of applying to the UofC, even though they have a very appealing MA in English with a creative thesis. You can get an MA (as opposed to an MFA), but still have a creative writing component.
Maybe I should try to get more ESL-related education. There are diploma courses that would probably be useful in improving my teaching, but I think anything short of a Masters degree wouldn't make much difference on my resume.
Somehow this post has gotten too long. I wish I remembered how to do LJ cuts.
Anyway, this got me thinking that I might enjoy going back to school, and I might get much more out of it this time (perhaps actually retain some knowledge:)). I'd really like to get a Masters degree in something, sometime in my life. A Masters in TESOL would be very useful, career-wise, but I'm just not -that- into the research and theory around teaching ESL, at least not at this point in my career.
An MA in English is what I'd really like to do and could imagine getting excited about, but I don't know how to do that kind of thing anymore. My BA feels a million years away. I wouldn't even know how to apply, or who to ask for reference letters. I was never very close with any of my profs while I was in school, and now I barely remember any of their names. There is only one prof who I do remember very well and who I had for more than one class - my creative writing prof Suzette Mayr. However, I did a very stupid thing when I was completing my BA. I was at the very end of my degree and sick to death of school - I was stressed, underslept, and I just wanted to be finished already! So, when it came time to write Suzette's review I wasn't very nice. And then, to top it all off, I wrote something in the review that clearly identified me even though they're supposed to be anonymous. At the time, I couldn't care less about it and felt that once school was behind me, it would remain out of my life and forgotten. However, now I can't bring myself to contact the only prof who might remember me. Also, it makes me wary of applying to the UofC, even though they have a very appealing MA in English with a creative thesis. You can get an MA (as opposed to an MFA), but still have a creative writing component.
Maybe I should try to get more ESL-related education. There are diploma courses that would probably be useful in improving my teaching, but I think anything short of a Masters degree wouldn't make much difference on my resume.
Somehow this post has gotten too long. I wish I remembered how to do LJ cuts.