Surprise! Writing this post feels like I’m uncovering a top secret online. But, the day has finally come for me to finally spill the truth. Yes, I secretly went back to school to get my master’s degree! I honestly can’t believe I finally have completed my 2-year online graduate program at Colorado State University for a Master of Music in Music Therapy. How? What? Why? I’m sure many of you are wondering why I decided to keep things quiet when it comes to my decision going back to graduate school. I’m happy to give you the complete details in the most informal matter (and I’m so glad I’m not writing this in APA format, haha).
First things first, I did tell a few people. I only told a few of my closest friends and immediate family about my plans to continue education, and for the most part, everyone was supportive in my decision to get my master’s degree. Once they knew what I was getting myself into the following two years, I never brought it up again. It might seem crazy to others that I decided to go back to school while already juggling so much on my plate. But ever since I was a young girl, I was naturally self-driven when it came to academics. I was that person who always strived to get the perfect grades and thrived in back-to-back class routines. I remembered telling my parents when I was 16 years old that I wanted to be the first in the family to get my master’s degree. Once I finished my undergraduate program, I initially planned to wait 1-2 years before I enrolled again for graduate school.
But then, boom. My travel blog was born shortly after I graduated and everything sort of spiraled (in the best way possible, of course). I felt so immersed into the blogging/influencer/content creation space that I started to invest in time working in marketing-related projects that helped me leverage experience back into my own business. I managed this while having my own clientele in music therapy. Soon enough, my graduate school plans suddenly became more distant. This led me to wonder whether I needed a career makeover.
It wasn’t until I came back home from a trip to the Philippines in 2019 that I decided to go back to school for my master’s. To others, it might have seemed silly and random to get a degree that I was unsure about pursuing full-time. And if I tried hard enough, I could’ve potentially made my blog my main source of revenue. However, I had a very clear message from God that told me to follow my gut and go for it. So, I ended up applying for the CSU master’s degree program all within a month and ended up getting accepted for the following semester. That moment felt completely validating for me and made me really believe it was my time to return.
To be honest, there was some hesitancy and doubt. It was going to be my first time going back to school in 4 years. After traveling often and living that unconventional millennial lifestyle, I was unsure as to how I would adjust back to the “college life.” However, I had to thank my professor and peers for making me feel so welcomed and valued since Day 1. I initially didn’t give myself a timeline – nor did I even expect to actually complete the graduate program. I just wanted to see if I was capable of dealing with the “school routine” after years of being away from it all. For the most part, I adjusted pretty well. I would almost describe the feeling of being in college again to driving a car – I had the “muscle memory” of mentally placing myself as a student, like how you would know when to press the gas and brake pedals on the road. It was a relief for me to realize how much I still got that drive in me to succeed. This time, it was without the noise from others. Just me, myself, and my own time.
I was really worried about what would happen to my blog. “What if people started noticing I’m not traveling as much or not being as active on social media?” And while I would not wish this on anybody, I found one silver lining that made my worries go away: the pandemic. While being a graduate student during the peak of COVID-19 had its own highs and lows, I found so much peace in staying home, focusing on school work, and having an offline life. It even led me to be a part of a COVID-19 related research study that ended up getting published in a matter of months (for those of you who were a part of it, you know exactly what that experience was like, haha). Even when I had people asking me how I was doing, it was hard for me to not share with them what I was actually going through, because a part of me still doesn’t want people to know I went back to school.
I kept this a secret for a long time because 1) attending graduate school is a personal decision. I was afraid I was going to be seen as “unreliable” or “too traditional” from sponsors and clients for creating a brand that focuses on female solo travel positivity. I didn’t want travel brands/tourism boards to not choose me for press trips because I was a graduate student for fear of having “too much on my plate.” Plus, I didn’t want to share updates about my schooling because, again, I felt like I would be trying to succeed for others’ approval, and I didn’t want to come across having this flex for being able to afford graduate schooling on my own. Overall, I was afraid I would be seen differently because I didn’t want to continue doing what I was doing when I first started blogging back in 2016. I shared so much of my life online that it just felt natural for me to take this journey off of the internet. Simply put, I just wanted to get my master’s degree for myself, and I think I made the best decision for me.
What’s next for me? I’m thrilled to take on more projects and redefine what my career can do – regardless of how useful my masters degree was in making that happen. I truly believe I’ll never stop blogging/creating content, so I am excited to take on bigger plans. From what I’ve learned about the pandemic, I believe that being successful involves us taking risks, no matter how many people notice.
