Returning to School for a Second Master's
Johns Hopkins MS in Organizational Leadership
To say that I am excited for this is an understatement. I am going back to school. I am returning for a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership at Johns Hopkins. I am ecstatic.
I adore learning; I want you to know this about me. Learning makes me want tomorrow. Naturally, I am thrilled to soon be a student again. I am reminded of this at random moments in the day, and I think how rich life can be. I look forward to wearing a crewneck sweat and studying at the campus library in DC. I look forward to getting coffee there and meeting others from different programs. I look forward to reading things I might not have found on my own, and I look forward to projects that are not self-assigned.
But what else is coming my way? Apart from this little romanticism, what else is going to happen? I think it’s important to make space for transitions, and so I want to confide a few things with you here.
Anticipation
Firstly, I am cautious. This is a serious thing. I intend to complete this program as a part-time student while working full time. I did the same with my first master’s, so I am not new to the pressure, but it is a serious thing to embark on this all the same. One different thing this round is that I will be working full-time at one job, not across several. I will also have vacation days to lean on as needed. It will be a lot of pressure at times, no doubt. I’ll have this type of stability with one job, but it will definitely take time from my social life.
How much of my life am I putting on hold to accommodate this move? If I accept that I have a fixed amount of time to do anything on any given day, what do I let myself drop when the pressure is heavy? I am in the difficult process of deciding this. There will always be too much to do, even more to do.
I asked myself this a lot in the decision process of applying or not. This is a full-time commitment, even if just a part-time student. What will help me succeed?
Secondly, I am ready. This program is all online and asynchronous, meaning the course material and lectures are already prepared and that I am not necessarily locked to a schedule of attending lectures on a specific night of the week, etc. I have more flexibility over when I study and when I progress through the course content. This is a huge advantage as it brings this closer to a strength of mine: discipline. I affirm myself. In some ways, this new journey will not be unlike how I already live. I wake up early to make time for reading, writing, studying, and working out nearly everyday of the week and have done so for the last 10 years. I am practiced. I wouldn’t dare suggest I’ve made it this far without help, but in the vacuum of freewill and the question of “what to do with one’s time?” I’ve made sure to follow enthusiasm. This has led me to completing two language certificates in Italian and French, read and write excessively, and build business.
Risk
I am practiced. This experience also tells me that there will be a lot to balance now, next expectations and my goals as they relate to those expectations. Again, with a fixed amount of time in a day, what would I let fall to the side in order to, temporarily, prioritize this time for study and growth? In other words, what is at risk as I start this off? Improving my Spanish or time in art galleries? Friends? This newsletter?
Truthfully, I fear for this newsletter. I fear for it because I care for it. Writing these letters is a thing of purpose for me, and I need it. I depend on this as I imagine what I will be able to do in the future with what I’m starting here. I see this newsletter as an integral piece of a second career as a writer. I want to launch a second, paid tier of this publication. I want to use the insights from this laboratory to build books and publish.
But my fear for this newsletter comes from respect for my boredom. Boredom is the site of creativity, and with a new, heavy commitment in the form of this master’s degree, I worry for my sense of time and rest. Will my writing get worse during this time, or will my writing expand as I explore deeper into ideas? Maybe both at different times. Will I run out of time some weeks and miss a publication deadline? I dread that.
Here is one sure thing to expect, moving forward to make this a more manageable project, I will be more deliberate with how I thematize these letters. I will maintain topics on art and philosophy, and I will continue to share my (bizarre or hilarious) meditations on life, but I will also include thoughts on management and leadership. As that dual-career article above (here again) suggests, I fully believe that mixing my two careers can be beneficial, and these letters will be the site of that.
Intention
If I may, I would like to share some of my vision for what I want out of this program. I share this to include you.
I intend to start building an audience for this career on LinkedIn with posts about what I’m learning. I hope that will funnel to subscriptions here while also building my online presence. It’s simply necessary for the kind of world we have and the type of work I ultimately want to do.
I intend to use this program to start testing moves into consulting in the areas of people advisory services, organizational effectiveness and development, and change management. I am mindful of using any course assignments to offer free consulting services for organizations as a way to start helping sooner but also practice this type of work. Ultimately, I have the idea of becoming an independent advisor to organizations from corporate America to nonprofits and the arts.
I intend to use this time in the program to build the foundation of a book. On top of wanting to write books of artistic or philosophic nature, I want to write about management and leadership. The future of work is a fascinating thing, and I find its problems urgent. Similar to how I identified in that post about all this work-life content and pointing out that business minds decide they can also authoritatively write about these things they keep calling “life,” I intend to get in on this trend. I love the work of ideas.
Overall, this will be a tremendous launch. I intend to give my all to this. I intend to use this program to radically launch the next phase of my career.
Again, I share this to include you. This program will initiate a major change in my life, and I intend to embrace it as much as possible. I look forward to sharing this journey with you.
Life is so rich.
More soon,
Trevor
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