Starting my Masters Degree

A BA in creative writing may not be a prerequisite for many traditional jobs, but it is far from useless. I think you will find it helpful in whatever field you eventually find yourself in. I have seen so many examples of a lack of writing skills holding people back from jobs, promotions, and advancement that I sometimes wonder what they have been teaching in high schools let alone colleges.

You have a huge 'leg-up' over your competition already. Juggle work, school, and writing in your spare time, and you will achieve what you want. An MBA and the ability to write coherently will put you ahead of the pack.

My senior year of undergrad, I had a 20 and 24-semester-hour fall and spring term, to be able to graduate on time. I took a year off; my field wasn't hiring at the time; I got a job that paid the bills; I decided to better myself by grabbing my MLS to make me a little more employable in my desired field and to maybe pave the way for a doctorate in paper (document) conservation. At the time (2001'ish?) about half the librarians working on their MLS were doing it via WebCT (online), while juggling a full-time job. That was me-- I didn't care for the isolation so much (it doesn't feel reeeeeealllll!) and the tough part was when the professors juggled their syllabi from semester to semester... but made their syllabi generic enough to be recycleable. That usually ended up with important projects being stashed away elsewhere not-on-the-syllabus, and you didn't have all the pre-class chat with your students where you hear people saying, "Hey, Fred, how's your big project coming along that's due on Thursday?" So, yeah.

Anyhow, my first semester, my advisor let me sign up for 12 hours or whatever. Like I said, I was coming off of doing twice that! So I thought even with a full-time job, this would be easy, right? I had no clue why I struggled as much as I did.

It wasn't until I was mid-semester that I went to someone else's house for a group project. I saw their WebCT home page on the computer, and they only had two classes. I'm like, "Wow, you're not doing very much this semester, hm?" and they're like, "What are you talking about?" That was the first that I learned that 9 hours is considered full time for a Master's degree, whereas 15 hours was full-time for undergrad. All of a sudden, a lot of things made sense.

The work itself wasn't hard--- you don't really go into a Master's program for something you don't naturally have an aptitude for, right? Especially if it's more in the arts or light sciences-- I'm sure hard science is far more rigorous. But cumulatively, it's a much heavier burden than you expect, especially if there are other things-- work, family, etc-- that are calls upon your time.

So chances are, with just the 6 hours, your program is trying to keep their first year students from being too overambitious. Give the first and second semesters a chance. See how things go. After the school is more used to you, your habits, and your grades-- and you're more used to it-- you can ask them if you can be a full-time student by taking 9 hours. Or more. Also, you can take advantage of things like Summer I, Summer II, or the May Mini-Mester to keep on your desired graduation schedule.

I adored by Masters. I was about 25, also, when I started. I took four classes each semester, plus a part time job in one museum and three hours a week at another, where I took some of my courses. When I look back, those days were some of my favorites.

I focused my Masters in Museum Studies / business development / marketing for non-profits. The reading was pretty intensive and I adored every minute of it. Was one MA class heftier than one BA class? Absolutely. But did it break the emotional bank? Not at all. Loving what you're doing is a great motivator.

Until the day my thesis was due. I had two advisors and both of them had to sign it, along with my department head, and the dean. None of these people were within the same square mile - because of course. I had a narrow window to get it all done and half way through printing the last copy of the 400 page monster, the ink cartridge exploded. I nearly lost it. I vaguely recall tears. I hadn't eaten in more than a day. My grandmother had passed away a few months before and her dog and my dog were fighting all the time. My entire wardrobe - every piece of clothing I owned - was covered in blank ink - along with my grandmother's Samoyed. My bed. The walls. The white tile bathroom became saturated in it while I tried to clean it up. All I wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die.

I called my mother who drove to my house with her printer and helped me clean the ink out of my entire life. I ran across campus collecting signatures in an orange sweater that was covered in ink. Ink in my hair, all over my hands. I dropped it off with a few minutes to spare.

Then I walked straight to the bar and drank a lot of beer.

Good for you. Have a blast. You're going to have some of the best times of your life. And if they let you submit digitally now - do it.