03-08-2018, 02:16 PM
My "dream job" didn't turn out to be my dream job. I think I got swept up in the feeling of limitless opportunities opening up by completing my BA. Probably because of feeling limited for so long because of not having one. Anyhow, what I imagined to be a fun wonderland that would pay me to keep up with the books that I loved turned out to be a pretty-dead-end retail position charged with children's books, cook books, and coffee table books. The only thing that would have been worse would have been self-help books. So that explains why the position has been open for so long. I lost interest about 3 minutes into initial phone interview. I may have projected a lot of fantasy into the idea of turning hobby into career. I decided to keep my love of books as a hobby instead of tarnishing it with the drudgery of work.
So back to Plan A. Or a modified version of Plan A. I'm going to get my Masters in Public Health When I started this path to my bachelor's degree, I originally wanted to go to the local state school MPH program after, but the more I looked at the options there, the more I felt it was not a great fit for me.
So, I had my degree certification letter from TESU sent to A T Still University and I have "provisional acceptance" to the online MPH program that should be upgraded to acceptance once the final transcript from TESU showing the degree is available. I have seen some other discussions about MPH programs and wanted to share why I chose this one.
It is CEPH accredited. This is a must where I live, since one of the top schools of public health in the world is right in our backyard. Also necessary if I want to use it for a state job, which is the plan (since I already have a state PERS retirement savings going). The current accreditation is valid through 2020, so even if they lose it (it is fairly new to the program) I will have graduated before that.
It is fully online. No need to do any intensive campus residencies at the start of every semester. Plus, I will be starting in July instead of having to wait until September. It is Blackboard, which isn't the best, but not a dealbreaker for me.
Although their MPH program does not have a physical presence in this area, 2 other ATSU programs do. The osteopathy and dental programs both have a partnership with one of the community health providers here. They actually attend classes and clinical rotations here for longer than they spend at the campus. This will help with setting up a practicum and possibly even before I get to the practicum. I have emailed the education program coordinator for the provider and they sound more than happy to have more administrative interns (they only had 2 last year).
It is a generalist program. I really want the degree to be flexible and plan on adding a couple of certifications for specializations instead of having the degree be specialized. There are plenty of certificate options available from the school of public health here that I can explore in the future.
It is not the cheapest program, but not the most expensive, either. I will be getting loans. And hoping for some scholarships. It should really pay for itself within 3 years of graduation, though, so not too concerned about the cost. Even if it does not work out to be as monetarily rewarding as I expect, it should at least lead to more rewarding work.
I looked at a lot of programs before deciding and everything has pluses and minuses. Not every program is right for everyone. I see a lot of posts on here with people looking for some magic answer to what path to pursue. I can't tell you what is right for you, but wanted to share what I decided is right for me.
So back to Plan A. Or a modified version of Plan A. I'm going to get my Masters in Public Health When I started this path to my bachelor's degree, I originally wanted to go to the local state school MPH program after, but the more I looked at the options there, the more I felt it was not a great fit for me.
So, I had my degree certification letter from TESU sent to A T Still University and I have "provisional acceptance" to the online MPH program that should be upgraded to acceptance once the final transcript from TESU showing the degree is available. I have seen some other discussions about MPH programs and wanted to share why I chose this one.
It is CEPH accredited. This is a must where I live, since one of the top schools of public health in the world is right in our backyard. Also necessary if I want to use it for a state job, which is the plan (since I already have a state PERS retirement savings going). The current accreditation is valid through 2020, so even if they lose it (it is fairly new to the program) I will have graduated before that.
It is fully online. No need to do any intensive campus residencies at the start of every semester. Plus, I will be starting in July instead of having to wait until September. It is Blackboard, which isn't the best, but not a dealbreaker for me.
Although their MPH program does not have a physical presence in this area, 2 other ATSU programs do. The osteopathy and dental programs both have a partnership with one of the community health providers here. They actually attend classes and clinical rotations here for longer than they spend at the campus. This will help with setting up a practicum and possibly even before I get to the practicum. I have emailed the education program coordinator for the provider and they sound more than happy to have more administrative interns (they only had 2 last year).
It is a generalist program. I really want the degree to be flexible and plan on adding a couple of certifications for specializations instead of having the degree be specialized. There are plenty of certificate options available from the school of public health here that I can explore in the future.
It is not the cheapest program, but not the most expensive, either. I will be getting loans. And hoping for some scholarships. It should really pay for itself within 3 years of graduation, though, so not too concerned about the cost. Even if it does not work out to be as monetarily rewarding as I expect, it should at least lead to more rewarding work.
I looked at a lot of programs before deciding and everything has pluses and minuses. Not every program is right for everyone. I see a lot of posts on here with people looking for some magic answer to what path to pursue. I can't tell you what is right for you, but wanted to share what I decided is right for me.
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