Education has played a key role in my success. I shared a few weeks ago about the lasting impact of my undergraduate education. Now, I want to share some about how my graduate education has served me over the years.
I was fortunate to receive a graduate assistantship, which meant my tuition was covered, along with a small stipend. In exchange for this, I worked 20 hours a week at the university.
Three Benefits of Graduate School
Thesis Preparation – I was one of the final students in my program to undertake a traditional thesis. This was not easy, but it really pushed me to understand core research tenets. While that certainly helped me a decade later when I decided to pursue my doctorate, it also helped me understand how to use the research process to solve work problems in a methodical and research-driven way.
For example, when I wanted to understand sentiment on the social media work I was doing, I understood what a content analysis was and how to implement it to answer the question that I had about people’s thoughts. More broadly, the research knowledge has helped me better assess work, identify opportunities for improvement, and explore creative approaches thoroughly.
Iterative Always Wins – As a graduate student, I managed the campus darkroom and served as a leader in the university television station. In both instances, I helped students understand key concepts to be successful in their classes. This experience helped me hone the value of working iteratively, as opposed to trying to do everything at once. As the darkroom assistant, when explaining how to develop film, there are a myriad of steps. Explaining everything all at once can be overwhelming. Instead, it’s helpful to break the process up into small steps that are less intimidating.
I use that exact skill today when working across campus. On a key project, we might focus first on the outline, then the copy, and finally the design. This approach puts things into manageable bites so it’s not overwhelming for the campus partner (or the internal team) but also ensures meaningful feedback occurs at each step, so the overall product is much better.
Balancing Priorities – Sometimes in life, we have to balance two things that are equally important. I experienced this between work and schoolwork. It was a different kind of time management than I’d experienced as an undergraduate student. Both were requirements, meaning I had to get creative. Since I worked in a darkroom, I would print off articles for my thesis and read them in the darkroom with a red light. I would also pack my laptop, so I could write if students weren’t present.
The creative approach has served me well for remote work and also being productive working in unexpected places. For example, my dad spent several months in the hospital about a decade ago. I would visit him three days a week and stay for part of the day. I figured out what tasks worked well for when I was on site at the hospital. This allowed me to work part-time while visiting him, saving my leave and still keeping my employer satisfied that work projects were remaining on-schedule.
What Else?
How did your master’s program set you up for success as a working professional?
Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below:
And Carrie On 