I am finally tackling something that I have had on my mind for the past month/year/4 years/10 years/etc. depending on when you start counting. I have decided to go back to school and make a concentrated effort on getting my Bachelor’s degree. Obviously this is not a decision I’m just jumping into – rather something I have tossed and turned over (literally) for years.
And while I’m extremely nervous and scared of going back to school, I am also extremely excited at what the future might bring.
For those of you who don’t know, I have a long and interesting history when it comes to college. In a nutshell, my college years went like this:
I always used to preach that ‘just because you have a degree, doesn’t make you any more intelligent than others’…and for the most part, I still believe that is true. But I must admit that my attitude has started to change a bit after having children. I find myself wanting to show my kiddos that their father can see something through to the end, and that he finishes what he started. I also want to do something I am passionate about (don’t we all). While I feel truly blessed to have as good of a job as I do – and while I will never take it for granted – I get frustrated at times that it is absolutely nothing I ever envisioned myself doing, nor is it something I get any true enjoyment or satisfaction out of. So if this new path could eventually lead to a career change? – great! If not, at least I will be able to say I did it and made an effort to better my situation.
Sheesh! Enough of that blabber already! So….what am I going back to school for? Upon completion, my degree would be a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology – Multimedia and Visual Communication. I literally get giddy just reading the course syllabus, with classes in: Java, Dreamweaver, XML, design, etc. FUN! As for when this will actually begin, that’s still up in the air. Jen is putting the finishing touches on her Master’s degree in May, so I will probably start any time now. And if everything stays on schedule, my degree would wrap up in about 2 years.
I have created a separate website that I will use to track my progress as I travel through school. It will serve both as a Portfolio of my work-to-date, as well as a blog that I will use to share my thoughts, frustrations, etc. along the way. I will not be using oldweiler.com to keep people updated – so if you want to stay up to speed, head on over to mattthat.com and get your fill. Now just to be clear, while this site is ‘up-and-running’, there is still some tweaking that needs done – so if you see some boo-boos, they are most likely on my list. I hope you like the look of the site and I hope it presents my information in a clean, easy-to-follow manner. You can click on the image below to be taken directly to it.
Well, I guess I better wrap up this marathon post and get back to work here. Thank you so much for reading this and I hope everyone has a great weekend.
Matt
We are a family of five, living happily in Colorado. And since we find ourselves running out of hours in the day, we built this little site to keep friends and family up to speed on what's going on in our lives.
I (obviously) knew that this was the path that you were going down, but never heard your reasoning for wanting to go back to school before reading this post. It was very touching, and I know that Cameron, Ellie & CJ are proud of you no matter what you finish or don’t finish. I am so proud of you, and so excited for you to jump into a degree that actually has meaning to you. I love you.
I am so happy and proud. In fact I started to cry reading your post. Reading about your excitement, thoughts and reasons for your decision… PLUS your past experiences. I will always be proud of you. Congratulations and enjoy your journey!
We are very proud of you this is a big step we are sure you will do very well and learn alot or perhaps with all your experience teach alot! In any case really enjoy the trip!
Congrats on your decision…..not an easy one for sure. Maybe at this time in your life you think differently about everything so like Nike says, “Just Do It”!!! We’ll all cheer you along the way!!!
Uncle Charles & Aunt Kathy
Congrats on making such a big decision. Going back to school and making a change is hard (I should know!) but gosh it feels good in the end. I didn’t know this was on your mind, but those classes do seems right up your alley. Can’t wait to hear more about it!
Oh, Matthew, I’m so proud, too! Your beautiful wife has been an inspiration by, among many things, continuing her education and now you’ll take your turn. Your thoughtful reasoning along with your intelligence and drive have brought you and will continue to bring you success! I wish you so much happiness. I wish you everything! Love, Tina
Good luck. I’m sad that I won’t see you around as much. I mean hear you around as much. No I meant see. Ah forget it, you know. It’s good that you are finishing up. Better to do it than live with the burden of what could have been later on in life.
I stil need to get my CPA license but just cant get the motivation to do it. Maybe someday when my job starts to suck I’ll get the motivation to finish it.
My reason will be purely selfish though. Money. Although my family would spend more of it than me so maybe it’s not so selfish?
This whole post just confuses me.