~ The Cold Air of Distance Learning ~

Last night, I attended a student orientation deal at a prospective distance learning site. The process of my graduate program decision has been long and waffly. I have now met with the Director's of three different programs at two distinct graduate schools. And I remain indecisive. The crux of the matter is my overwhelming need to get on with doing something more challenging and fulfilling than what I currently do. In the way of employment, I recognize that the most obvious catalyst would be a practical masters degree that taps into the sort of work that I have been doing and would like to do. Part of this process is doing a regular career search to locate those opportunities that I would like to shoot for, and also to create a map of how to access those opportunities. Through this process, I have discovered many more ideal career opportunities than I had any idea existed. Additionally, I have determined that, along with pertinent experience which I am in the long arduous process of attaining, the letters MPH after my name are what I need.

There is only one nationally accredited MPH program in Idaho. And, quite frankly, I'm not all that excited about it. I have tried to justify doing another program that excites me more, there are two such programs that excite me, but one is not nationally accredited and the other has nothing to do with my career objectives. There are several underlying reasons why I feel the way that I do about this program.

• The history of Jennifer is a history of glorifying idyllic university studies. Well, I had my idyllic university experience at the Harvard of Canada...it was beautiful, academic, stimulating, stressful hell, and totally useless. From this, I try to remind myself that I have already had the idyllic university experience, to convince myself that the time might be ripe to go for a completely functional experience and throw idyllicism to the wind. The MPH degree appears to be nothing but practical.
• I am a downtown gal. I have crafted my life to live, work, and play exclusively downtown. I prefer to commit to those quotidian activities to which I can walk or ride my bicycle. I don't go outside of my niche except for extraordinary purposes. That said, the location of the MPH program is less than ideal. It is housed mainly in an Eastern Idaho town called Pocatello. Yet, it has a distance learning site here in Boise...at the far west end of town, a shit hole, the commute to which is through a series of never ending trailer parks and strip malls. Gag. I am considering the notion of riding my bicycle to and from there (as the classes are normally in the evening after the buses have stopped running), but I would literally be afraid of being attacked in some manner riding my bicycle out there twice in the evenings, especially when it begins to get dark earlier and earlier. Yet, I may be exaggerating the danger. Who knows. My sources indicate that some road construction along the way is going to yeild a bike lane, which would allow me to avoid the dark and shady places and reduce my fear of being run over.
• As the elitist snob that I admit to be, I feel my nose rising in the air when I think about this program. While I don't want to be this much of a snob, it can be difficult to lower one's nose. The orientation deal last night was a meeting between all of the current students and faculty, via video conferencing between the program's three sites (Pocatello, Boise, and Idaho Falls). It is quite a concept for me to wrap my mind around getting an accredited masters degree in this "distance learning" fashion. While the video conferencing seemed sophistocated, the other resources available did not. Back to the notion of the idyllic university experience...the building for the Boise program is in a small warehouse-looking square, the room was cold and empty except for the AV equipment and three rows of tables & chairs, and there were strange microphones so that the students can communicate with their instructors. Additionally, I didn't think much of some of the faculty. The woman who coordinates internships, for example, seemed like this hiddeous grouchy witch who hates everyone, who was talking to all of the students in a very disrespectful and condescending manner, and was going on about how her primary research area is homeland security and how to make this country safer. Belch.

Despite all of that, there are some positives about the program. The director of the Boise site (Dr. Firstname, as I like to call him), who would be the main person I would interact with, is wonderful and it sounds like he would be a very good mentor-sort of person for me and my objectives. And I have decided that having quality mentor-sorts of people in my life is good. Additionally, on the Boise site, there are some institutes which would mesh well with my experience and objectives, that I could tap into. Classes would be in the evening, so I could still work. There is an express bus that stops near to the site, and I could ride that out there before the class and ride my bike along a newly-constructed bike lane. And, there is a chance that I would not need to spend a single cent of my own money on this experience. So my hands continue to raise and lower, simulating scales weighing pros and cons.

Posted by jennifer at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)