Learning has always been a big motivator for me. I have always loved being a student and I love pushing myself to learn something new. In the spring of 2019 I started looking into a topic that I desperately wanted to know more about. Trauma in educational settings was officially the new buzz word in education, or at least one of them, and I was hooked. I wanted to know more, needed to know everything practical surrounding the subject so that I could help the neediest of my students. It had been a new topic for me over the course of the last school year and I found myself getting more and more curious about how we could implement these practices into our teaching.
It was at that point that I started looking for programs online that I could participate in. Unfortunately, I found that training in this area wasn't the easiest thing in the world to find. I had already had 2-3 trainings around this topic at work, and I seemed to be tapping out the resources that were easily available to me. And then I stumbled across the Portland campus of Concordia University. I knew nothing about the school, but they had exactly what I was looking for. A 100% online masters program in Trauma and Resilience in Educational Settings. From the moment I found the program, I knew that this was the road I needed to go down. I reached out to an enrollment specialist at the school and started gathering as much information as I could.
Unfortunately, when it came down to it, I knew I couldn't afford the program. Scholarships are near impossible to find for masters programs, especially when this is your second masters. I knew that it was either take out loans to pay for most of the program, or not do the program. It broke my heart, but I wasn't willing to put myself in a position to take out more student loans, especially when I had just paid off my loans about a year before. So that was the end of it as far as I could tell. I didn't have $20k and didn't want to take out a loan in that amount, so I had to just move on.
When I found out that the Portland campus had closed and knew that this program was gone, I was both incredibly sad and relieved at the same time. It had been about a year since I had originally looked into the program and I was still thinking about it constantly. At least this way the temptation was gone and I didn't really have a choice in the matter at this point. It was the end of May, 2020 at this point. Only a few days later, I got an email that has now set me on this course that will change my life.
The Nebraska campus of Concordia University was taking over all of Portland's programs. They would only be offering the Trauma program, however, with starting dates through October 2020. The email went on to state that anyone who had been considering the program and had spoken with staff at Portland could receive 20% off their tuition and they would provide all of the books needed for the program for no charge.
By mid June, I had my application in, it had been accepted, and my financial aid paperwork was filled out and turned in. I had decided to jump in with both feet and I was determined to make the most of this second chance that I had been given.
Fast forward and it is now July 7th. I start classes on the 13th, in just six short days. I am registered for my first three classes, lasting until October 25th. I will have all but one of my core classes finished by Halloween, and by the time Christmas rolls around, I will be immersed into my concentration classes. One year from now, I will have finished my second masters program and in theory have all sorts of new doors opened to me. This is going to be a challenging year, one with lots of ups and downs, and I am sure more than one melt down on my part. But I cannot wait for this adventure that I am about to start and cannot wait to share that experience with you all.
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