Episode 2 - My PhD Journey
What does one’s journey towards earning a PhD look like? On this episode, I share about my own journey and the path I took towards earning my doctoral degree. I also call on each of you to reflect on your own journey and your own path towards earning your graduate level degree.
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Here is a transcription of Episode 2:
0:17: Hello and welcome to the Broke PhD Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. G!
0:24: On this episode of Broke PhD podcast, I share about my journey and the path that led me to earning a doctoral degree.
0:31: Everyone's journey towards earning their doctoral or graduate level degree is unique. If you were to compare the paths that two individuals took towards obtaining the same degree, while there might be similarities, odds are there would exist several differences. Some may have taken a more straightforward path with every step being carefully planned, falling in line like dominos in a row. On the other hand, the path for some might be filled with several twists and turns and loopty loops, as if they had been on a roller coaster going all over the place. Out of these two analogies, my own path is similar to the latter one. It was filled with several twists and turns and back and forths, and ups and downs. And so I wanted to share my story with hopes that you, the listeners, can connect and realize that it's ok if your path is not a straightforward path, and also it's ok if your path is a straightforward path. There's no shame either way. Again, everyone's path is unique and so we should not sit here and compare apples to oranges because everyone's path towards their doctoral or graduate level degree is going to be different and going to be their own.
1:42: So to start my own journey, I'm going to take it all the way back to my high school years. So I am a millennial and I graduated high school in ‘07. The high school that I went to actually was quite FAME-ous for those that know me personally and know which school I went to and it was a performing arts school. And at my high school we all had majors. And I know for you listeners out there, that probably sounds very bizarre, but in high school I had a major or a specialty area, and for me, I was a vocal major. So when I was in high school, my aspirations and my career goals at the time were that I wanted to do music. I still wanted to sing and do vocal performance of some type. But I was also realistic and recognized that the music industry wasn't really rolling in the dough and wasn't really a stable career. And as such, I also had an interest in psychology. That kind of stemmed from crazy family dynamics, which I'm sure others can relate to. And so I wanted to learn more about the human psyche, which sparked my interest in the area of psychology. And so when I was looking to apply for undergraduate programs, I wanted to go to a college or university that had the option and provided me the opportunity of doing both music and psychology. And I was able to do just that. I was able to double major in music and psychology. So in my undergraduate years, my career aspirations revolved around me wanting to be a psychologist. I really wanted to help those grow and learn about themselves and get over the traumas that they were going through, but as I was progressing through my studies. I realize I'm too much of an empath and I would be terrible at not taking on all of the emotions of my clients. And so for my own mental health and my own sake, I started to change my career aspirations.
3:40: So after my undergraduate years, I was doing some soul searching and trying to figure out what I really wanted to do. I had a degree and a double major in psychology and music, but again, I didn't want to be a psychologist and I didn't want to be a music teacher or only do performance. And so I was looking for something a little more stable and I happened to come across a position at an Early Childhood Education Center. And I got the job. So I found myself becoming an early childhood educator. I primarily worked with infants at the time and then that morphed into working with two and three-year olds. And if you heard the previous episode, I had shared that it was my experience working in the two and three-year old classroom that led me to becoming a special education teacher. So my students in the two and three-year old classrooms were in the early stages of early identification for special education and through that connection and through that exposure is where I found the area of special education and pursued that further.
4:48: After becoming interested in the area of special education, it motivated me to want to earn my master’s degree in the field. Although during this time my primary job was early childhood education that morphed into special education, I still maintained secondary jobs or even a third job on the side. As we all know, teachers don't get adequately compensated and paid enough for the work that they do. And just like a lot of other teachers and something that's very common, I myself had a second job or even a third job along my journey. So my secondary job was always related to either event planning, or catering, or wedding planning, or event management of some sort. And since I was in the classroom all day and I primarily interacted with kids most of the day, event management and the wedding planning jobs would allow me to have interactions with adults. So I called it my adult job. Now I share about my secondary job, not to get pity or empathy from you, the listeners, because in today's economy, that's something that's really normal and has become normalized, unfortunately. But I share that to have everyone understand that while you might have this one primary interest in this one field that you're super passionate about, it doesn't mean that you should shut off all of the other things that you might be interested in. You never know where opportunities can come from, and I truly want you, the listeners, to make the most of every opportunity and every experience that you encounter.
6:26: So for me, having a secondary job was a great way of networking and talking with others and it just builds skills that I may not have been able to obtain in my primary job. So at this point in the story, I'm at the point where I've earned a master’s degree. I'm working as a classroom teacher at this point. If you remember in the past episode I worked in a self-contained kindergarten classroom. And then on top of that I'm also doing a secondary job of being an event manager for a catering company. I'm at the point in life where I feel comfortable. I like what I'm doing. I love what I'm doing. And I could see myself doing it for a long period of time.
7:09: Then, just like so many others, we were blindsided by a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic took my world and shook it up. I was no longer able to do the event management position because events and weddings and things involving more than three people were shut down. And my classroom morphed from being in person to turning into an online space. And don't get me wrong, I love online learning. I actually prefer it to in person learning for myself, having earned a masters and a doctoral degree through both online programs. I'm a big advocate for online learning. I will definitely say, though, that it was tough for me to teach my students in an online setting.
7:57: When the pandemic hit, it definitely made me rethink and revisit a lot of things, and the path that I wanted to go on. And my career aspirations again began to shift. And I started to see more of the inequities and those unjust things that exist in the educational system. I also started to recognize those injustices and those inequities that exist for us educators in the classroom. But I would hear Horror Story after Horror Story about those teachers who were not able to teach their students because there was a lack of availability and a lack of access of basic internet, of computers, and other resources that were needed to provide them with the most enriching and engaging experience possible. And so with all of this happening, it made me really revisit what I wanted to do and the steps I wanted to go forward. And as such, I was at the point where I still needed to learn more about field and I wanted to do so through earning a doctoral degree. Again, I shared in the last episode that one of my WHYs and one of my reasons for earning A doctoral degree was to expand my knowledge and my skills in the field of special education. So all of those pieces were coming together, and my path towards a doctoral degree was becoming clearer and clearer.
9:21: It just kind of happened to fall in place that I started my program in May of 2020 and I finished in August of 2023. So as I shared earlier, I don't want anyone to compare their paths or their timeline to anybody else. Everyone's timeline, everyone's path is going to be different. And again, we should not be comparing these apples to oranges because they're not the same. I want you to remember that wherever you are and whatever path you want to walk on, that it is ok and it is valid. You may earn your graduate degree and then want to go on and earn a doctoral degree and then find out halfway through your program that that is not for you and that's ok if you walk away. There should be no judgment, there should be no self-loathing, There should be no bad feelings because that is the path that you are on and that is your unique path. I find so much in our society that we try to compare each other and especially with this age of social media, we always forget that the things that we see on the social media accounts. Are not the whole picture. They are normally the highlights. That's the highlight reel of somebody's life that you are comparing your own reality to. And as hard as it is, we gotta try to not do that. So I want you to know that wherever you are in your journey, whatever path you want to take and whatever path you don't want to take. That it is all ok.
10:46: So in summary, my path was not one that was straightforward. It was kind of all over the place. Again, I was a vocal major in high school. I was a psych and music major in my undergraduate program. Then I found early childhood education, but then I fell in love with special education. And then I got a Master’s in Special Education, and finally I earned my doctoral degree in special education. And even now, as I'm sharing my stories, while I have some ideas of what I want to do, I'm also still figuring it out, too. My path is not one that's meant to be straightforward, with all the dominoes falling in a row. I know my path is going to be filled with twists and turns and ups and downs, and I'm so excited to take this path and to see where life takes me and just enjoy every minute of it. And I hope you can do the same.
11:36: Now I want you to pause and think about your own journey and your own path. Have you had more of a straightforward path or have you had more of that loopty loop, twist and turn path. I would love to hear about your path, so please feel free to reach out via the podcast website at brokephdpodcast.com or via any of the social media outlets and share with me about your own journey.
12:01: Well, that concludes this episode, but I am so excited to have you on this journey with me. So please hit that subscribe button or that follow button. And again, feel free to check out the podcast website: brokephdpodcast.com - to continue to follow along.
12:18: Thank you for listening and no matter where you are in your own journey, remember YOU GOT THIS!
12:23: Again, I'm your host, Dr. G, and I hope you have a wonderful day.