Back in the mid-1990’s, I decided to start working on my doctorate. I applied to Vanderbilt’s Peabody School of Education and not only was accepted but received a full graduate assistantship. It was wonderful. I took a year’s leave of absence from my teaching job and attended classes fulltime. I supervised student teachers and students working on practicums in the classroom. I couldn’t afford to take a second year off work, and so I gave up my assistantship and went back to teaching. However, during that second year I finished all my coursework and even finished my written and oral exams for my doctorate.
Then life intervened, and I was single and couldn’t afford the time or money to work on my dissertation (no assistantly meant paying full price for those dissertation hours). I was teaching during the day and tutoring kids in the afternoons. It was a struggle. I figured I’d get back to my degree after a couple of years. I just needed a little time to settle into managing the single life.
Imagine my dismay when I checked on it a few years later to learn that it was too late. I begged and pleaded, but it was indeed too late. Too much time had passed. The coursework and exams were no longer valid for a degree. If I wanted to get a doctorate, I would have to start all over - from the beginning. I won’t say that all my work was for nothing because it was such a wonderful experience going back to school. I’m the ultimate student because I sincerely love taking classes and learning new things. However, all those courses would never count towards a degree.
Now I’m looking into getting that doctorate via an online degree program. Yes, I’d have to start over, but it would be do-able. Looking online, I found a wide variety of degrees offered - associate, undergraduate and graduate - available through many different schools. And yes, there is a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership / Curriculum and Instruction degree offered online. Maybe I’ll be Dr. Carol one of these days, after all.
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