Introduction to Keeping Graduate School on the Horizon (Veteran Voices)
Introduction to Keeping Graduate School on the Horizon (Veteran Voices)
Transcript
Everyone's aware that graduate school exists. And one of the things that we do talk a lot about in the military is setting up different meter targets. So you have your 50 meter target, which might be getting through the next couple months. You have a 100 meter target, which could be getting through, let's say, the next year, even. And then in the back of your mind or off in the distance, you have those larger targets.
So I wasn't necessarily sure that I would be going for graduate school. And I would say that the decision just kind of came about as my years went on and my experience gathered, and I continually looked for opportunities to basically advance myself and my future opportunities with those immediate decisions in the present.
I do feel when applying for a graduate school, you have to have a more specific goal in mind than when applying for undergraduate school. Undergraduate school is a place to find yourself in certain ways, to explore many different options and whether it's mostly in liberal arts education, trying to figure out which field you want to pursue, or where do you find your strengths.
But when applying for graduate school, you really have to focus in on what you want to do. In my case, it was, I wanted to be an artist. I didn't know necessarily how that was going to happen. I didn't know what specific discipline I would be in or what.
My specialty back then was in painting. So I naturally chose that as my concentration when I was pursuing my Open Studio program, but I knew I wanted to be an artist. And I knew that that was going to push me to a school that had a good art program. And so that narrows the field, drastically.
And then if you know you want, let's say, in the arts again, you want a very good Open Studio program in the arts, well, that narrows the field even more. That's what I wanted. I knew that. And then now over time, pursuing a second degree going even further in a more advanced degree, you have to focus it even more.
What am I really trying to say? What is my very specific research question? Trying to flesh all of that out so that it makes it much easier to find the school and the program where you fit.
The thought of graduate school came in when I discovered that after Columbia University and getting a bachelors, there was opportunity for more. I learned about other possibilities, other career paths. And I realized that if those were going to be my goals, that there was going to be more educational requirements. And so that's when I started thinking about the possibility of grad school.
So I wasn't necessarily sure that I would be going for graduate school. And I would say that the decision just kind of came about as my years went on and my experience gathered, and I continually looked for opportunities to basically advance myself and my future opportunities with those immediate decisions in the present.
I do feel when applying for a graduate school, you have to have a more specific goal in mind than when applying for undergraduate school. Undergraduate school is a place to find yourself in certain ways, to explore many different options and whether it's mostly in liberal arts education, trying to figure out which field you want to pursue, or where do you find your strengths.
But when applying for graduate school, you really have to focus in on what you want to do. In my case, it was, I wanted to be an artist. I didn't know necessarily how that was going to happen. I didn't know what specific discipline I would be in or what.
My specialty back then was in painting. So I naturally chose that as my concentration when I was pursuing my Open Studio program, but I knew I wanted to be an artist. And I knew that that was going to push me to a school that had a good art program. And so that narrows the field, drastically.
And then if you know you want, let's say, in the arts again, you want a very good Open Studio program in the arts, well, that narrows the field even more. That's what I wanted. I knew that. And then now over time, pursuing a second degree going even further in a more advanced degree, you have to focus it even more.
What am I really trying to say? What is my very specific research question? Trying to flesh all of that out so that it makes it much easier to find the school and the program where you fit.
The thought of graduate school came in when I discovered that after Columbia University and getting a bachelors, there was opportunity for more. I learned about other possibilities, other career paths. And I realized that if those were going to be my goals, that there was going to be more educational requirements. And so that's when I started thinking about the possibility of grad school.