It turns out that Master's degree programs in Education and extroverted, social people can do very well together. The 35 students in my program include many people who have taught for 3 to 6 years and are now returning to school to study educational reform with hopes of changing our world for the better someday. They and we are full of energy, enthusiasm, and a passion for "good", whatever that may be. To explain my love for my graduate experience thus far, let me provide an example of some of my cohort's social events. Most of our gatherings have had attendance in the 8 to 20 people range, pretty good given our busy schedules and high levels of assigned academic reading.
Week 1
We spent most of week 1 shopping classes and adjusting to academic life, but we did take time out to gather on Thursday to watch a bit of Stanford's away football game and participate in Grad Trivia Night, on Friday for Happy Hour after our first full week of class, and on Saturday for Mexican dinner at someone's apartment.
Week 2
Calmer than week 1 because shopping was mostly over and schedules settled, it was also busier because workloads too had settled and required reading kicked in full force. (When classes only last 10 weeks, things move fast from the start.) We took a midweek study break to grill and watch the presidential debate at an apartment then watched some baseball over drinks on Friday and went to the football game against Arizona on Saturday (my first football game with overtime -- spoiler: Stanford won).
Week 3
We began the week with a Sunday night potluck then many of us saw each other at a Tuesday film screening around educational reform. We gathered to watch the vice presidential debate on Thursday then had evening drinks on Friday. Today (Saturday), many of us will get together for a quiche-and-pumpkin-pancakes fall brunch as we head into a weekend of studying.
Next week promises another presidential debate party and a cohort brown-bag lunch with one of our favorite professors. (Yes, we even have collective favorite professors.) It will be fantastic.
The academic side of life is also going quite well. I love my classes and enjoy immensely learning so many new things each week about education. I'm having fun with my first "flipped classroom" and appreciate the opportunity to view all the challenges and bumps along the road of that experience in person and in real time. (In a flipped classroom, students view lectures and do readings at home then focus class time on hands-on practice or in-depth discussion.)
On the professional side, I'll share a highlight of week 3 from yesterday. I met for lunch yesterday with a University VP actively involved in reframing the way his school and others help students think about major and career planning. He had spoken at my week-long summer class so I knew he was fantastic already. We ended up having a 1 1/2 hour lunch before I needed to head back to campus for Organizational Analysis, my flipped class. As we were standing to go, I mentioned that I was heading off for that class, that it was flipped, and watching our lectures at home was an interesting experience. His reply: "I'd love to meet with you again" to talk about online learning. His office and school, it turns out, are thinking of putting some career resources online. As I'm in an online class now, I have an inside view on this "grand experiment" (as one professor calls it) in massive open online learning. Thanks to this, I get a follow-up meeting with a higher education thought leader (per my consideration). Pretty awesome.
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