Took A Break From Grad School Yesterday

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May 2, 2020
4,664
23,771
Louisiana
School can be stressful. Especially if you have a full time job on top of it. I remember writing several 20+ page research papers the night before they were due. That said, if I won the lottery, I’d probably enroll in college again and just take classes I’m interested in. I always enjoyed it in spite of the stress.
Nice choice of drink, tobacco and pipe. I was always more of a neat bourbon guy, and there were only a handful of cocktails that I really enjoyed, but a good Old Fashioned was one of them. Enjoy your respite. I’m sure it’s hard-earned. ?
 

uprightman

Might Stick Around
Aug 26, 2019
77
245
Central Pennsylvania
School can be stressful. Especially if you have a full time job on top of it. I remember writing several 20+ page research papers the night before they were due. That said, if I won the lottery, I’d probably enroll in college again and just take classes I’m interested in. I always enjoyed it in spite of the stress.
Nice choice of drink, tobacco and pipe. I was always more of a neat bourbon guy, and there were only a handful of cocktails that I really enjoyed, but a good Old Fashioned was one of them. Enjoy your respite. I’m sure it’s hard-earned. ?

Thankfully, my full time job has slowed down for the summer. I teach high school social studies at a local cyber school. I’m teaching two summer courses, but the work load is far decreased from during the normal school year. I’ve been using the summers to do grad classes for that reason, I’m hoping to be finished next summer.

The Old Fashioned looks red. I’m heavy-handed with the Angostura bitters when making mine, but that has quite a bit more red in it than anything I make. Go on, now, spill it. No secrets here.

The old fashioned was a bit pink. I used two cherries and some cherry juice along with sugar and orange bitters, as I didn’t have any actual orange to add to the cocktail.

Old fashioned are one of my favorite cocktails, though I’m more of a neat bourbon guy myself. I feel guilty ordering them at a bar, because they’re a bit of a pain to make correctly. This one, while not perfect, was tasty.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I went to grad school right out of the Navy on G.I. Bill, kind of kicking around the world like a pin ball, unattached and at loose ends, but I loved school, and I met my late wife (I'm remarried) and I've never felt freer or richer in time and experience. That quiet little campus was/is like sacred ground.
 

uprightman

Might Stick Around
Aug 26, 2019
77
245
Central Pennsylvania
I went to grad school right out of the Navy on G.I. Bill, kind of kicking around the world like a pin ball, unattached and at loose ends, but I loved school, and I met my late wife (I'm remarried) and I've never felt freer or richer in time and experience. That quiet little campus was/is like sacred ground.

I can see why people become life long students. My undergrad was in history with a minor in secondary Ed. My masters is in education as well. A pipe dream I’ve often nurtured is a doctoral program in history.
 

musicman

Lifer
Nov 12, 2019
1,119
6,052
Cincinnati, OH
Enjoy that break! Grad school is hard work. I'm just on the tail end of 6 straight years as a full time Grad student. Got a Master's first, and now I'm just a couple of weeks away from defending my doctoral dissertation. It's been a real haul at times, especially since I've also worked almost full time through most of it, but it's also led to a lot of personal and professional growth. I spent 80 percent of my time working on the dissertation with a pipe in my mouth, and it really helped to stimulate the creative urge.

Now I get to look for a job in a field that has been temporarily decimated by this pandemic (Higher Ed Music). Yay!
 

uprightman

Might Stick Around
Aug 26, 2019
77
245
Central Pennsylvania
Enjoy that break! Grad school is hard work. I'm just on the tail end of 6 straight years as a full time Grad student. Got a Master's first, and now I'm just a couple of weeks away from defending my doctoral dissertation. It's been a real haul at times, especially since I've also worked almost full time through most of it, but it's also led to a lot of personal and professional growth. I spent 80 percent of my time working on the dissertation with a pipe in my mouth, and it really helped to stimulate the creative urge.

Now I get to look for a job in a field that has been temporarily decimated by this pandemic (Higher Ed Music). Yay!
Best of luck to you! I haven’t quite decided that a doctoral program is in the cards for me, history isn’t an easy gig to get into either from what I understand.
 

ofafeather

Lifer
Apr 26, 2020
2,769
9,044
50
Where NY, CT & MA meet
Enjoy that break! Grad school is hard work. I'm just on the tail end of 6 straight years as a full time Grad student. Got a Master's first, and now I'm just a couple of weeks away from defending my doctoral dissertation. It's been a real haul at times, especially since I've also worked almost full time through most of it, but it's also led to a lot of personal and professional growth. I spent 80 percent of my time working on the dissertation with a pipe in my mouth, and it really helped to stimulate the creative urge.

Now I get to look for a job in a field that has been temporarily decimated by this pandemic (Higher Ed Music). Yay!

That’s awesome. Best of luck. What will your PhD in Music be in? What is your focus of study? I just finished my 19th year teaching music in public school.
 
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musicman

Lifer
Nov 12, 2019
1,119
6,052
Cincinnati, OH
That’s awesome. Best of luck. What will your PhD in Music be in? What is your focus of study? I just finished my 19th year teaching music in public school.
My DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) is in Choral Conducting with a minor in Organ Performance. My research has been more musicologically based. I'm writing about an obscure contemporary of Bach named Christoph Graupner, and I've created a new edition of one of his Cantatas from the manuscript. I've got an MM in Organ Performance as well, and my undergrad was in Church Music. I'll be 40 next month, and I've spent my entire career working as a keyboardist, singer, and conductor.

What do you teach? Some of my best friends are high school music teachers, and my two best buds from undergrad are both successful band teachers.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,399
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
School can be stressful. Especially if you have a full time job on top of it. I remember writing several 20+ page research papers the night before they were due. That said, if I won the lottery, I’d probably enroll in college again and just take classes I’m interested in. I always enjoyed it in spite of the stress.
Nice choice of drink, tobacco and pipe. I was always more of a neat bourbon guy, and there were only a handful of cocktails that I really enjoyed, but a good Old Fashioned was one of them. Enjoy your respite. I’m sure it’s hard-earned. ?
I wish I would have learned earlier how much easier and less stressful it is to get that stuff done early. I have to agree classes would be so much fun if you didn't feel like your future well being depended on how you do. Thank gosh there are at least a few others that prefer neat.
 

elessar

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 24, 2019
667
1,398
Old fashioned are one of my favorite cocktails, though I’m more of a neat bourbon guy myself. I feel guilty ordering them at a bar, because they’re a bit of a pain to make correctly. This one, while not perfect, was tasty.

Me too. Scotch old fashioned in particular. I would also reccomend the Sazerac. Judging by your comments I bet you might enjoy that one as well.
 

ofafeather

Lifer
Apr 26, 2020
2,769
9,044
50
Where NY, CT & MA meet
My DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) is in Choral Conducting with a minor in Organ Performance. My research has been more musicologically based. I'm writing about an obscure contemporary of Bach named Christoph Graupner, and I've created a new edition of one of his Cantatas from the manuscript. I've got an MM in Organ Performance as well, and my undergrad was in Church Music. I'll be 40 next month, and I've spent my entire career working as a keyboardist, singer, and conductor.

What do you teach? Some of my best friends are high school music teachers, and my two best buds from undergrad are both successful band teachers.

That’s awesome!

I teach in a small, rural district in NY on the border of CT and MA. We have about 650 students pre-k-12. My background is in jazz (saxophone/flute/clarinet) but I’ve mostly taught General Music and Chorus. More recently I’ve also been teaching high school electives - Piano, Guitar, Music Tech.
 

winton

Lifer
Oct 20, 2010
2,318
771
I remember getting my MBA, while working 40+ hours a week. I believe it took me about two years. My employer reimbursed me 80% of the tuition.

But, if you really want to learn, enroll in the School of Hard Knocks.
 

saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,194
5,097
Grad school is grueling. I finished in 1984 and remember a good bit of the content when I need to. Confgrartulations on all your well-earned learning. I have a number of certificates on top of the masters, and I often thought of more school, but after all the school I already had. my thinking was that I'd go back only if the degree directly led to more earnings. Neither have happened.
 
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