The Countdown's Getting Closer Everyday

10 and 9, 8 and 7, 6 and 5 and 4...


School starts Monday for me. I am both looking forward to it and anxiously waiting for the stress and time management that accompanies each class. I guess that means that I am somewhat stressing over the upcoming stress...nice Mindy...

Anyways, I am working on my Master's of Intercultural Leadership degree from Crown College, which is in Minnesota. Seeing that I am not independently wealthy enough to commute to work, I take all my classes online.

Their distance learning program has worked well for me. They offer two terms each year: fall and spring. The fall terms runs from the end of August to the beginning of February and the spring term runs from mid-February to the beginning of July.

The program is designed for working adults and therefore, unless given special permission, you only take one class at a time, up to 3 classes a term. Each class is only 7 weeks long which means that in some ways it's more intense than the average class and in other ways, the homework requirements are not as involved as I expected of a Master's program. The longest paper I've had to write so far was 20 pages. Plus, no exams...I've had quizzes in a couple classes but no exams. My classes usually are chalk full of reading and weekly small papers, ranging from 2-4 pages.

My upcoming class is on "Strategic Planning." It's part of a group of classes on leadership, focusing on both the characteristics and responsibilities of being a leader...I'm guessing this class will be more in the responsibility realm. Doesn't it sound exciting? (enter sarcasm). The good news is that I am 5 classes away from being done and thus far, I've done pretty well in the program, which feels pride-worthy and humbling. My desire at this point is to finish well. School is a major priority for me at this point in my life. Therefore, even though I know school will cause my already busy schedule to become busier, I say, "Bring it on!" (Remind me I said that when I come back moaning in about 3-4 weeks!)