Do you always listen to the same type of station on the radio? Jess and I were driving through Erie the other day when we realized that regardless of where we are, we tend to gravitate towards classic rock on the radio. In State College it’s 93.7 The Bus. In Erie, it’s Z 102.3FM. Classic rock’s domination of our radio presets is confusing because neither Jess nor I really listen to classic rock if we are not in the car listening to FM radio. My iTunes is dominated by 90s and 2000s indie rock. The Bus does not play Mineral or The Get Up Kids. There isn’t a single track by the Beatles on my iTunes, but I hear them daily in the car.

I think that the appeal of classic rock channels can be connected to a few key factors. First off, it’s reliable. All of the classic rock stations play the same music, basically. There’s something to be said for the comfort that goes along with that. Second, there’s always a chance that Rush will be right around the corner. Third, I’ve been in training to enjoy classic rock stations since I was a kid. It’s what my dad has always listened to, and some of my best memories as a kid are driving around with him and having him quiz me on who was on the radio . . . . including the classic puns about The Who whenever Pinball Wizard would come on the air.

“Who’s this?”
“The Who.”
“Who?”
“The Who.”
*groans*

So I keep going back to classic rock on the radio. It’s not really cool, and it’s certainly not new and exciting . . . . but it’s good, and that’s good enough.

After a 5-day siesta from the daily grind, I was back in the office today. I like my job. A lot. But I struggle with Thursdays anyway, and with today’s Thursday also having a Monday sensibility about it I really dragged, even though I was basically productive and got a good bit of work done. It’s nice to whittle away at your inbox and talk to the colleagues you haven’t seen in a while. Everyone wanted to know how my dad is doing, which was nice.

On that front, things are going well. When I called Hamot this morning, the nurse told me that they would be moving him from the ICU to the regular part of the hospital sometime today, which is good. He was apparently sitting in a chair this morning, which is a good milestone (even if it seems like a small thing to you or me). On my most recent call, he was doing his dialysis, so they asked me to call back later. I’m glad he’s doing well, all things considered. After a fairly stressful weekend with lots of traveling, how did I unwind last night after returning to State College? With a cigar and some whiskey, two key ingredients for heart health and physical-fitness.

In between busywork and meeting with students this afternoon, I tried to follow the very exciting iPhone 4.0 software press conference. Lots of cool new functions, none of which will be supported by my 1st generation iPhone. I’m eager to see what iPhone 4 has in store this summer . . . not that I’m eager to trade in my 2+ years old iPhone, mind you. I would like to drive it until the wheels fall off (although I am certain I have gotten the cost per use down to fractions of a cent, even if it was purchased before AT&T really started subsidizing the cost).

For tonight: Top Chef Masters and Survivor on Tivo. Oh yes, there will be reality TV and a whole bunch of doing nothing.

It happens to me every spring. I’m bundled up in a winter stupor, then slowly the temperature starts to rise. Spring break comes and goes. Yellow pine pollen appears on everything, in mass quantities. Then, I start to put these events together: spring time, warm weather, pollen… THE SEMESTER IS ALMOST OVER!

I’m starting to see that “next wave” of students, who absolutely meant to come see me earlier in the semester. But, like me, they’re just now waking from their winter stupor, as well. The good news is that this year internship postings have held strong. Perhaps the employers are waking from a winter stupor of their own.

Before we all know it, we’ll wake up and the semester will be over. It will be summer. Beautiful, hot, empty-campus summer. It does get a bit lonely. But, for career services, it’s summer, not spring, that is the time of renewal, of planning, of strategy. I’m looking forward to that this year.

But, for now, I’d better focus on what’s left of spring before it’s too late!

In my previous posts, I have written a great deal about the admissions processes that I navigated on my way to pursuing a doctoral degree.  I’m going to shift gears and begin a new series about the specifics of the program in which I chose to enroll and my experience as a full-time doctoral student and full-time working professional.  It is a unique program, and it is my hope that my experience will be of interest to the readers of www.higheredcareercoach.com.  Please do not mistake this as a sales pitch for my particular institution or type of program . . . but I hope that it illustrates how I have attempted to balance doctoral studies with my professional career and family life.

I’m currently a first-year doctoral student in the Higher Education Administration Ed.D. program at the George Washington University.  While GWU offers a traditional doctoral program experience at their Foggy Bottom campus in the District of Columbia, I attend classes at the Virginia Campus near Dulles Airport. I have chosen the cohort program model that GWU offers. In this program, a number of students are admitted each fall.  This cohort of students takes all of their courses together for the first two and a half years of the program, seven credits each semester during the fall, spring and summer.

Courses for cohort students at the Virginia Campus are taught by the same faculty members who teach at Foggy Bottom, and course content and program requirements are the same, although they are adjusted a bit to accommodate for the unique needs of cohort students.  All members of the cohort program are working in higher education, and most of us do not live in the D.C. area.
Here are the major factors that resulted in my enrollment in the GW cohort program, instead of a more traditional program at another institution.

• The ability to accrue meaningful professional experience while making progress towards my doctorate.  As an entry-level professional in student affairs, I was concerned about being “overqualified” with a doctorate and limited professional experience.
• The idea of being in a cohort was really appealing to me.  I knocked out my masters degree part-time while working full-time, so I never had the experience of being in a cohort and making strong connections with classmates.  I felt like I was missing out on that during my masters program.
• GWU just seemed like a good fit for me.  It’s not the most highly ranked program in the world, but everyone treated me well throughout the admissions process.  They were really transparent about the strengths and areas for growth with their program.  I really felt like they wanted me there, and like I would have support to do good work.
• They offered me some financial support (not full tuition or anything like that), which was nice.

Some of my concerns about the program included:

• Balancing 7-credits each semester with my 50-60 hours per week at work.
• Travel.  One weekend a month while working in a position that requires me to be on-call is quite a commitment, while also adding to the costs of the program.
• Quality.  GWU says the quality of the educational experience is just as good for cohort students as it is for traditional students.  Would this be true?

In the end, I thought the pluses outweighed the potential negatives.  To this point, I have been thrilled to be a George Washington Colonial, and I am find the delicate balancing act of work and school manageable.  Next time, I’ll write about how I’ve negotiated things at work and home to make all of this possible.

Testing

Testing

After returning to State College from our nation’s capitol, I made my first priority at work cleaning up my desk.  I think I did a pretty good job!

Although it has likely been glaringly obvious to others operating in and around the career realm, I’m only just now seeing the parallels between a lot of what I read about “personal branding” and just good content marketing. I don’t know why I’ve never connected these two topics before.

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