After what seems like an agonizingly long time but really was just over a year, I finished my second masters degree! Yay! I am done! In the end, it will likely turn out as useless as the first, but my hope is that it helps me get an “excursion” tour in HR after I finish up my tour here. Technically, it isn’t needed, but the idea at the time had been to secure an HR tour after this, do it for three years and then apply as an HR officer down the road. (Waaaay down the road.) Circumstances may change, but that’s still an option.
And oh man I am just so glad it’s over. Let’s just say that the theoretical world of academia doesn’t fit into the real world of the Department of State. I’ve endured a whole bunch of “this will work in your organization” while I am thinking, uh, no, that doesn’t happen.
But now I can check a box and, hopefully, will be able to apply for our student loan reimbursement program. I’ve never had a student loan before and technically could have swung this without one, but the idea of it costing $3k rather than $13k was a lovely thought, so I took out a loan. My God, that’s an insurmountable amount of paperwork. I barely had the patience and can’t imagine how complicated it must be for kids to maneuver through it. How about this – lower the cost of college tuition so people can afford it without mortgaging their future?
But anyway, the coursework is in the past – for now. In an ironic twist of fate, as soon as my final class started, I got word that I also was accepted to a separate certificate program through work. It’s a diversity and inclusion certificate out of Cornell and is a shadow of what the masters program was. All four classes combined should be complete in eight weeks, which is the amount of time that one of the other courses took.
Gosh, I am just so relieved it’s over.
This weekend – and my weekend is Friday-Saturday – was wonderful because I didn’t spend half of it in the office doing coursework. (The internet is better there, and I have a giant computer screen instead of the little laptop one, so I can get more done.) On Friday, we had a practice drill with some defense stuff so I got to hang out outside (albeit wearing an armored vest and helmet) and on Sunday, we did a large-scale medical drill and I got to drive around three visitors. Both were out-of-the-ordinary things that were fun to do while not having to stress about writing some academic paper.
I also read a book strictly for pleasure, which I haven’t had a chance to do in awhile. (Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am.) Now, I plan on just totally vegging out and watching TV for a bit, just to detox my brain. We also have a St. Patrick’s Day run on March 18, after whatever even there is on March 17.
At some point, I really should take a stab at playing guitar; the one I bought for my last go-round in Baghdad is sitting again by the sofa, just waiting. But right now, it’s back to R&R planning. America is not the No. 1 plan this time but is a secondary destination. No. 1 is Mexico, where I hope to go to the dentist. That wasn’t the original plan, but now that I’ve learned Mexico is a dental tourist destination I’m kind of excited because I haven’t been in probably a year, and then it was only a cleaning. It’s a little sad that I’ve never been to Mexico at all and instead of researching Cozumel or whatever that I am looking at dentists! But I figure Cozumel will be available once I get there; the dentist is something I should line up first.
Key West is also on the agenda; the songwriters’ festival is a bucket list item. So stoked for that. I hope everything comes together. There’s still so many obstacles in the way; I wrote out a timeline of every movement that has to happen and it was a bit daunting. But one day at a time
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