BY ERICA GUSTAFSON, OPINION EDITOR
It seems crazy to me, but I’m already a month into my senior year of college. It feels like yesterday when I drove onto this campus as a freshman student who didn’t really know what to expect entering a completely new college environment. Now, I am living in a house with four other college students and almost finished accomplishing my Bachelor’s degree.
One of the big things on my mind is the idea of continuing my higher education into a master’s degree program. I’ve always imagined myself finishing my bachelor’s degree and then eventually getting my master’s, but I can’t believe the moment is already here for me to decide.
In researching master’s programs, I’ve come across articles that discuss whether students should keep moving directly through degree programs or if they should take a break period in between.
Though this will also depend on financial and supporting factors that play into you being able to attend a university in such a way, students really should keep pushing forward through the different higher education programs that they want to accomplish.
In a June 2021 article on study portals Masters, Ana-Maria Pasolea talks about reasons why should and should not enter a Master’s program right after graduating your Bachelor’s. One of her main points is that “there are many people who delay their Master’s so they can start working, get a salary, get an apartment, get a family and so on until the delay becomes infinite.”
Though life does tend to get in the way of education, it can be easier for you to juggle these things coming right out of the gate of your undergraduate degree instead of leaving the education circuit and then returning later in the future.
One of the other main reasons why it is important to continue straight from your bachelor’s into your master’s is the ability to grow your social network. This is one of the most repeated phrases I have heard from all faculty members on the St. Bonaventure University campus. Networking is everything. In continuing your education right into your master’s degree, you can reach a new group of people that can expand your network of professionals in a variety of fields. This will give you a larger community that you will know as you step forward into your professional career. They can be colleagues for you to know and communicate with as you figure out your specific professional goals and aspirations.
Ellie Walburg, an admission communications coordinator at Cornerstone University’s Professional & Graduate Studies division, mentions this in her 2018 post on Five Reasons Why Education Helps To Advance Your Career At Any Level. She writes, “your network, grown through earning a degree, can be a wealth of insight and information as you advance your own career.”
Overall, people will know what is best for them. We are not all ready for the different programs in higher education right out of the gate. Ana-Maria Pasolea writes that the , “timing of your Master’s is a very personal decision, and only you know when you’re ready or if you’re in the mood to go back to school.”
The most important aspect is, if you have a strong desire to continue your education, don’t feel anxious to go for it. It is not easy, but that is what it’s supposed to be; it was not made to be easy. Whether you are educated in or out of the classroom, educating our youth is what drives the future of society, economics, finance, and more. When it comes down to it, the young children and adults of the world today will be in charge of making all of the major decisions in the world in a few years from now.
A well-known quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger says, “You know, nothing is more important than education because nowhere are our stakes higher; our future depends on the quality of education of our children today.”
