Education for adults with experience?

I'm finding myself in a situation that is rather uncomfortable.  I have the desire to continue my education, but I seem to be a round peg trying to fit into a square hole.  I am the adult with years of experience looking for the right Master's degree program.

Currently I have over 20+ years of experiences in the realm of arts administration.  I signed up for a qualifying course in an arts administration program, and I was bored.  I felt like it was a waste of time and money, and my fellow students kept commenting, "Boy, you really know what you are talking about!"

The course was about perspectives on art.  What is art?  We had to find good examples such as articles for various views on art and comment about our findings.  I do this type of work almost everyday, and have been doing this frequency for about 6 years.  If you follow me on Twitter, you know what I mean.  I post ARTicles for my fellow colleagues to read and learn from and to start discussions on these types of topics.

The point to this rambling is, there seems to be no educational options for the adult learner who already has experience.  If I want the "title," then I either have to waste the time and money or in some cases pay for credits that represent my experience.  Yes, there are a few schools that will evaluate your experiences and allow you to pay a certain amount for a certain number of credits.  Pay for my experiences which I already paid for through hard work?  Seems ridiculous to me!

I have seen a few build your own degrees, which are attractive to me, yet, they are few and far between and many are not online, and some are not offering Masters degrees.

So, what am I to do?  I fell upon a few articles for "creating your own private degree."  There is a small movement where people design their own "degrees" and find the books, online courses, and continuing education classes to form their own personal degree.  Some of these posts even suggest that learning in this fashion could be the wave of the future.  After all, when you think about it, the degrees and stamp of approval from institutions are simply creations of people.  Couldn't I read the same books and write my own papers and get peer reviewed approval?  In this world of social media sharing, many of us are doing this to some extent.

Don't get me wrong, I view education as extremely important and something to value.  However, who is to say you are an expert simply based on a program of someone else's creation?  Couldn't someone create their own path of learning and becoming equally expert?  There are many people in this world that do not have a college education, but they have learned what they needed to know and took this type of education into the real world for real life experiences.  Some have built empires, and some have written books.  Society values this type of entrepreneurial spirit too!

It has been a constant roller coaster thinking about getting a Master's degree.  I do not fit neatly into the box that the majority of educational institutions have designed.  I guess I will keep looking for a program that values my experience and allows me to design my own future.  If you have any suggestions, please do reply and let me know.  And, if the right program is not out there, perhaps designing my own private degree is the way to go. 

Thoughts?  

-Shoshana

Day 29 - 29 Gifts Complete!

Well, it is not all bells, whistles, streamers, etc, but I did finish the 29 Gifts challenge.  For the last day, I ended up making dinner when I was going out with my handy dandy crock pot.  What a surprise to have dinner ready when he got home! 

Today I am listening to Star Trek, The Next Generation.  I am a proud TNG fan, and the music for this series was incredible!

Now that the 29 days are over, I am considering a new and different challenge.  Perhaps a month of gratitude.  Or, maybe a month of movies. 

Any suggestions?  :O)

Happy gifting and thank you for the company on this special 29 day journey!

Day 24 - 28 of 29 Gifts, May 18 - 22

Wow, tomorrow is the last day.  I will save that to be a post all its own.  Here is the next few days for me on my 29 Gifts journey:

 Day 23, May 17: I changed my gift to be offering to drive during a hectic time.  He needed to relax so I gave him the gift of being able to stare out the window, look at his iPhone and relax after a really tough day.

Day 24, May 18: A morning bike ride!  I don't bike ride with him as often as he wants, so this morning, we went on a ride that we both would enjoy.  I had a good time too.

Day 25, May 19: Time with my mom and sister on a conference call.  It is good to give time to family, especially when so far away.  I also gave a book to another book club member that I thought she would enjoy.

Day 26, May 20:  This was the one day I gave to myself.  A day to myself, retreat like, and much needed, but I also gave my cats tons of my time too.   

Day 27, May 21: A donation to the Red Cross to help the people in Oklahoma; I only gave $10, but every little bit helps.

Day 28, May 22:  Today I purchased my last punch on one of my coffee cards and then gave it to the person at the counter to give to the next person in line for a free drink. 

I am listening to Marcus Roberts Portraits in Blue.  This is a fantastic jazz snapshot of Gershwin with touches of his own personality. 

Happy Giving, and time to celebrate tomorrow!

Day 17 - 23 (May 11-17): Catch up time

I have been missing in action for posting, but I have been continuing to gift for the 29 Gifts month.  Here is the complete catch up.

Day 17: Mother's Day Gift received.  I sent my mom a gift on Wednesday, but wanted to count it when it was received.  Today she called and left a message that she loved her 2 gifts!


Day 18:  1 hour of uncomplicated conversation with my mom.  Despite having an interesting, complicated time in my life right now, I decided not to talk about me and spent the hour focused completely on her and shooting the breeze about anything and everything.  We laughed and had a great time.  Cherish the moments!


Day 19:  Email to a friend in need.  I found out that my friend is still having thoughts about his wife having cancer, even though she is in remission.  I sent a message acknowledging how he feels and letting him know that it is okay to own his feelings and to cherish each moment with her.  We never know when someone will be taken from us.  The gift of the present moment is all that matters.

Day 20: A few more promotional posts to help others.


Day 21:  Gift to my sister for a coffee gift card.  She is having a challenging time and mentioned that she is not sure she can even afford the luxury of her morning cup of coffee she so enjoys each morning.  I hope the 5 coffees on me will help a bit to lift her spirits.


Day 22: Compromise for television night.  We both wanted to watch something, so I gave the gift of compromise instead of simply leaving or being stubborn.  We had a nice evening together.

I also gave the gift of letting someone go ahead of me in line at the grocery store.  He was an unassuming man.  He was only buying milk.  He was very surprised and had a great smile.

Day 23: Today I am going to go to my favorite coffee shop and get the last punch in my coffee card, and then, I will give the gift of my one free coffee after 10 purchases to someone else.  If I see a friend, I will give it to them.  If not, I will tell the person to gift the next person in line. I hope they will be okay with transferring the card to someone else.


I am listening to a CD I recently purchased.  I am getting into World Music via the lable Real World, which is Peter Gabriel's label.  Shelia Chandra's  The Zen Kiss is the CD of the moment.  It is all vocal chants and/or prayers and/or stories.  Exactly what I need to listen to today. 

Day 15 & 16 of 29 Gifts - May 9 & 10: Promotional Information & Breakfast

Yesterday and today, I ended up sending out a bunch of informational posts and tweets for various causes and events.  Two of the events I was invited to, but I am not able to attend.  I wanted to at least show appreciation for their thoughtful invite.

This morning I got up early and made breakfast.  This is a big gift since I am rarely up before him during the week.  Eggs, toast and coffee were made before he came downstairs.  You should have seen the surprised look on his face.  

I am receiving during this process and thought I would notate here. 

• A colleague called me out of the blue to give me some needed advice.  

• I received a free dumping fee (yes, a free dump) at the waste disposal depot when they forgot to weigh us at the station.
• A free plant was gifted to me at my favorite plant nursery. 
• Someone today offered me free tickets to a concert.
• My mom called me at the moment I could use an ear.
• I received virtual hugs when I needed them (although I asked for a hug).
• As well as the many gifts my honey and the cats give me each day! 

I am still listening to The Chicago Principal.  So many wonderful concertos!

Happy gifting and Fabulous Friday and weekend to you! 

Day 12, 13, 14 of 29 Gifts - May 6 -8: Full attention, quiet time and book gifts

I am a little behind in my posting, so please forgive as I catch up.  On May 6, Day 12, I gave my cat my full attention.  It is so easy for us to not give our pets our full attention.  We pet them while reading a book or watching television.  We are almost always thinking about other things when we feed them or walk them. 

I have a cat that is 18 years old this year.  I definitely want to cherish the moments with her now before she leaves me for the rainbow bridge.  So, I stopped doing what I was doing and gave her my complete attention.  She has one of the best kitty smiles, and she enjoyed our time together by sharing her best purrs.  It was time worth spent and a gift to me as well as to her!

On May 7, my honey came home a little frazzled.  I decided to let him have the big TV and gave him some quiet time to himself yesterday.  He definitely was more cheerful later in the evening having that time to himself.

Today, I am mailing a book that I found for one of my college friends.  I found this book at a thrift store that reminded me so much of him, I had to buy it.  Thank goodness for Facebook since I was able to reconnect with him after many years.  He sent me his address, and I am happy to mail out his surprise, fun gift.  It's not something huge, but I know it will make him smile.

As I write this, I am listening to The Chicago Principal: First chair soloists play famous concertos, specifically Schumann's Konzertstuck in F Major for Four Horns and Orchestra. I adore this piece.  Very rich horn sound!

Happy gifting and Wonderful Wednesday to you!

Day 10 & 11 of 29 Gifts - May 4 & 5: Tea and spree

I hope you had a nice weekend!  Over the weekend for Day 10, I bought our group leader's pot of tea at our tea meetup.  I did not tell him I was going to do this, so it was a surprise.  Another member of the group helped me to make this possible (since I had to sneak in line ahead of her to do this).

For Day 11, I did the shopping at Target that neither one of us wanted to do.  A little gift to him so he could stay home and watch his NASCAR race.  I'm glad I could free up his time so he could relax on the weekend.

I ended up listening to the radio this weekend as I gardened and drove around to do my errands, so no CDs to report.

Today, I am not sure what I want to do.  Stay tuned for a later post to catch up.