Hey all!
It’s Brandon (Jos’ fiance) and I am taking over the blog today and will be talking about something I’ve been working on for the past two years or so!
Since August of 2017 I have been working towards obtaining my Master’s degree from The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. The program is the only applied politics program in the country, teaching the 60 or so students what they need to go on to either run for office, run campaigns or work in some aspect of the political field.
The program is geared towards working professionals, so that means classes are in the evening after work. So, I work until 6:00pm or so and then head to class until 9:45pm — typically getting home around 10:30pm or so (Jos doesn’t much like those longer days). And, until April 1st of this year I spent three days a week for about 30 minutes or so at the same Starbucks. It quickly became my home away from home where I prepared for class and took a few moments to switch gears into student mode.
Over the course of the program I have taken some amazing classes, met incredibly talented colleagues I can now call friends and gained a lot of confidence in a field I truly love. And while I have enjoyed success in the program, it wouldn’t be possible without the support system I have around me. Joslin has been incredible: supporting me during the long days; motivating me to get my homework done (even when I didn’t want to) and being patient while most weekends were spent studying, writing memos and building presentations. While Jos has been there each, and every, day — my parents and grandparents have been as supportive as they can be on the other side of the country. And finally, my fellow classmates have been there for me as well. Whether it’s hanging out at Starbucks before class, complaining to each other about assignments, professors or other classmates — having friends to go through something with makes things so much better.
What I am trying to say is, I am incredibly thankful to everyone around me — especially for the last two years or so when I decided to take this challenge on. Come next month, I will be graduating and finally both Jos and myself will be done with school for good (for those that don’t know, she has a law degree and is a bar certified attorney which is way more work than my degree and I will forever sing her praises).
Lastly, I want to say that it can be done. If you want to pursue the next step in school, you can do it. It will be a long slog at times, you will have ups and downs, but you will get through it. As someone who paid their own way through it, I can’t tell you how good it will feel when you finally finish it. And, you’ll meet incredible people along the way who will become close friends, mentors and potential professional colleagues.
So, here’s to being done with school and to getting my Master’s degree!
B
P.S. thanks for sticking through this post — it’s my first time on the blog, hopefully you liked it. If so, let me know and I will see if Jos will let me come back for another post!
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