Autobiography of an Online Student Graduate

I always hated high school, I never really fit in and being a band geek sure didn’t help. After high school I met a good friend who went to college, I expressed my lack of enthusiasm for school and she responded with “college isn’t for everyone”. For some reason this bothered me.

The company I worked for at the time offered an incentive to attend college by paying for the tuition if the student received a grade of a “c” or higher. I took them up on their offer, enrolled in a local state college and fell in love with school for the first time. I attended night school in the traditional brick and mortar environment and at first I took only a few electives.

After some time I realized that I wanted to earn an actual degree and all these electives were getting me nowhere. I talked to a counselor and I began to take core classes to earn an Associates Degree. In 2001 I graduated. After I received this AA from a junior college I wanted more.

While working full time as a law enforcement officer I again enrolled in a local private university went to night school in the traditional brick and mortar environment and achieved a BA in Liberal Arts. I loved college and learning so much that I wanted to be a teacher; law enforcement paid the bills yet wasn’t the career choice I ultimately wanted. It 2005 I graduated then passed the CBEST test and went into the school system as a substitute teacher. Shortly after that I became pregnant, stayed home and am currently raising four kids-one is disabled.

Since I was at home anyways I decided to find a career that would allow me to be home with my kids and make money. I then took three distance education courses required for the California real estate license exam, took the test and passed. Now, I was a real estate salesman. I wanted more. I then took five more distance education courses and along with my BA degree I was qualified to take the California Real Estate Brokers license exam. In 2007 I took the test and passed. I then owned a real estate company named after myself yet I wanted more.

In 2008 I realized our real estate investments were commodities worth protecting on a local level and for several other reasons, I ran for public office. The seat I was vying for was the city clerk position. Not only did I want to see some changes by unseating a 43 year, unopposed politician I needed to protect these investments and wanted to be a part of the system that affects all aspects of home ownership. I launched a campaign, gathered supporters, created flyers, mailers, held newspaper interviews, TV interviews and met as many residents who could vote for me as possible. On November 4th my name was on the ballot and we all voted. I lost.

The good news is I broadened my shoulders, expanded my horizons and impacted my community resulting in changes for the best. I wanted more.

In 2010 I began to research going back to school for a Master Degree. I began to apply to a few state and private universities. I knew I wanted to be in school again yet I did not have a desire to travel to and from school and besides, this was something I wanted to have fun with and pursue in my spare time; the online environment was a perfect fit for me.

After several weeks and eventually several hours on the phone with a Kaplan University adviser, my application for enrollment was completed. On September 22,2010, I began my Master of Science in Education Degree-completely online. I will discuss and illustrate my year of school, other options and my experience in the online environment in another article.

Here it is 2011 and I am done with this program and I graduated with a 4.0. Am I done with pursuing academic endeavors? I’m not sure, I did however apply to a PhD. program and I was accepted but I am not sure that is what I am wanting to do right now. Now that I own a real estate company and have a Master Degree I wonder what is in store for me.


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