Graduate School Update:
Life After Earning My Bachelor's Degree
04/30/2023
CONNTINUING EDUCATION VS. PURSUING A CAREER
Waitlisted
As my senior year ends, it brings forth significant consideration of what I want my future to look like. In the fall, I applied to five graduate schools; in the spring, I received the news that I, unfortunately, got rejected by four and was waitlisted by one. I am grateful for the one waitlist I received; however, it does make my future hazy. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the waitlist process, it means that I do not have a guaranteed spot in the program I applied to, but if someone who did get admitted were to decline their offer or drop out of the program, the school could offer me that spot. With this being said, I can be on the waitlist for a few more weeks or even a few more months. I will be on that waitlist until I get a formal rejection from the university or ask to be removed from it.
With this being said, because being on the waitlist is indefinite; I struggle with knowing if I should proceed and apply for more sustaining careers or be patient and wait for that formal rejection. It has been hard to plan for either situation, career versus education, considering that both are live altering decisions.
A Career
As stated above, I have the potential to be rejected by the graduate program I applied to. Given this possibility, I need to be prepared for this outcome and contemplate what I would like my possible gap year to look like.
I know that I want to be a teacher. That choice was easy. The complication comes from determining what type of setting I would like to teach in and where.
Admittedly, my teaching options are limited because I need state licensure at most schools. Without a state teaching license, I can teach in early education, private, charter, or Montessori classrooms. Ideally, I would teach middle school English in a charter school. I was fortunate enough to attend a charter school for my middle school years, and I attribute this education style and the educators there to my success in high education. Therefore, I would love the opportunity to be that support for someone else.
While I may know I want to work in a charter school setting, I have been having difficulty finding openings in the location I would like to spend my gap year. My husband and I would like to stay close to friends and family. For us, this means staying in northern Wisconsin. Sadly, I have not been able to find many openings for charter school teaching positions in this area. This puts us in a position to further contemplate whether I compromise my desire to be a middle school English charter school teacher or my desire to stay in northern Wisconsin.
FINAL DECISION
Moving Forward
To be transparent, I have not decided whether to wait or apply to teaching positions, nor decided if I value living teaching in a charter school setting more than staying near friends and family. I recognize these choices need to be made soon, but further conversations need to be made with my spouse since my decision will ultimately affect his life as well.
If you want to know more about my situation, please leave a message in the comment section below; otherwise, stay tuned to this blog to learn more about what I decide in the upcoming weeks!
Thanks for reading!
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