earn a masters degree

On December 15th 2012 I obtained my master of science in systems engineering. So excited, and glad that it is all over. It took two full years…I made one mediocre grade that I’m not particularly proud of the rest were As, but considering all that went on in my life in the past year…i can’t be too mad.

If all goes well, I’ll graduate in December. I took a Human Factors in Quality Assurance class this summer and it has been my favorite class. The main focus of the course was to examine human interactions with technology. It has made me look at the world around me differently, I have to look at how things are designed and how systems operate now.

So I have one course with an incomplete status that I need to get out of the way, and the 2 classes for Fall semester and that’s it! It went by so quickly.

I’ve completed five classes so far and I am maintaining a 4.0. This semester (Fall 2011) I’m taking a Modeling and Simulation course and a Quality System Design course. The books for the Modeling class are mad expensive. I’m still very motivated and I enjoy the subjects that I’ve taken so far, but I miss having some of that free time. I still have another year or so to complete but I’m certain that all the late nights and hard work will be worth it.

This semester I am taking Engineering Economics, and Project Management (or Managing the Technical Effort). I have a solid B average in the Econ course (messes up my GPA!), and high A average in the Project Mgmt Course.
Hopefully I can get some better grades in Econ, guess I’ll just have to work even harder at it.

I have completed my first semester of graduate school! I think that I have an A in my Intro to Systems Engineering Class(I got a 93% on the final!), and hopefully an A in my Statistics class. I studied so much during that last week that I’m still working math problems in my sleep. It was hard trying to juggle work, school, and a very active social life, but somehow I managed to do it, and found areas where I could use some improvement in the process. I am motivated and excited about what next semester has to bring!

This semester I am taking Statistics for Quality Assurance, and Introduction to Systems Engineering, both online.
The online class thing is a first for me. It’s really neat, but I find that I am going to have to stay up on my stuff. In undergrad I let procrastination get the better of me at times, but I always had a professor in my face reminding me to get things done. This time…not so! But going to school in the comfort of my living room is nice…something I could definitely get used to.

I received my acceptance letter to Southern Polytech for the Master’s Program in Systems Engineering. I’m really excited to get started. It’s been five years since I’ve been in school and I know I’m probably going to have to dust off my study skills.
This approach will be vastly different than when I got my BS. For one, I’ll be working full-time, and taking a couple of classes per semester. Two, I will be taking majority of my coursework online, which is a little unnerving for me. I’m not sure what to expect or how I will perform in this type of environment. I am so used to the traditional lecture format that I hope procrastination and laziness will not get the better of me.
My company is offering a tuition reimbursement program but it is based on grades…A’s get 100% paid. So I definitely have incentive to do well.