Education New Year's Resolution by Marsha

Education New Year's Resolution by Marsha - December 2020 Scholarship Essay

One education New Year’s resolution I will have for 2021 is to finish my doctoral degree. I currently have four degrees and this will be my fifth one. I can honestly say that this is the hardest I have worked for something in my entire life. School has always come easy for me, but this has been a challenge.
I started my doctoral journey in May 2018. At the beginning, I knew I would have challenges and milestones along the way, I just did not know how many or how great the milestones would be. Some of my challenges and milestones were personal, while others were work-related. COVID-19 was a challenge which disrupted data collection in my dissertation.
During my journey, I had a great support system with my family and friends. Although I do not live near my family, and they are 1000 miles away, they all kept in extra contact with me during this journey. During my journey, I had several deaths in my family, which were hard to deal with. The two main deaths I had to deal with, as I also had to continue on with my journey, was the death of my grandfather towards the middle of the journey and my aunt towards the end of the journey. The summer my grandfather passed away due to a fall, I made two trips from South Carolina to Chicago. Even though I was travelling across the country, I was still working on my papers for my classes. This summer I was in Michigan visiting my family and went to see my aunt, because we knew she did not have long to live. I was glad I was able to see and visit with her, as she was still lucid. When she passed away, I chose not to attend the funeral, due to the workload I had with my dissertation.
Just as I was completing my concept paper, I switched school districts. I sold my house, bought a new house, moved 150 miles away, and started teaching in a new school and district. Although the added stress on me was huge at times, I saw this move as the beginning of new opportunities for my career. I left a hostile work environment for one with a transformational leader, who provides support whenever needed. I am so thankful every single day that I decided to make the move to Charleston.
There were two times when I knew I rounded the bend and was on my way to reaching my end destination. The first bend I rounded was when my chair approved my chapter three. This was the first chapter I worked on for my dissertation and felt frustration along the way. I kept at it and when I got my final approval, I finally felt as if ‘I can do this’!
The second time I rounded what I considered a bend was when I received my Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. I received my Dissertation Research Review (DRR) very quickly but did have to wait almost the two weeks for the IRB approval. This was the last step I needed in order to begin collecting my data. Once the email came, stating I had obtained approval, I was beyond ecstatic. I knew I was to the point of no return in my journey.
The two bends I rounded kept me going in my journey. I sacrificed quite a bit during my doctoral journey. I gave up time with my friends and family to complete my journey. I chose schoolwork over going out and doing things over these years. I missed out on some things, but I had an end goal that I needed to accomplish. I also sacrificed financially during my doctoral journey. Through saving, sacrificing, and scholarships, I was able to pay for my doctoral degree out of pocket. I am very proud of that accomplishment!