School Would Involve Knowing How

¶ … school would involve knowing how I plan to achieve my personal, vocational and/or educational goals within the structure of the M.A. Degree in Liberal Studies program. From the time I was able to realize what a graduate program really was, I have heard nothing but good things about Excelsior college and its liberal arts program. In the present job market, the need for a well-rounded education has never been greater. I plan to achieve my personal vocational and education goals by employing the skills learned in a liberal arts education to excel in my life after the Navy. These skills allow a person to adapt and succeed in a number of tough working conditions that require out of the box thinking. I know this as a manager both in the Navy and I am sure this will be the case after my federal service. A person who is in charge must be able to look at the "whole picture" and myopia ends at the end or entry-level. There are no excuses for tunnel vision after this stage of a career. The difference between myopia and the ability to visualize the "whole picture" is the difference between mediocrity (and the unemployment line) and job stability in a changing job and academic environment where thinking individuals succeed in life because of their superior skills of analysis.

In your second question, you ask what my preparedness is for and understanding of graduate-level, interdisciplinary study in the arts and sciences. Certainly, one must not rest on their laurels. In the Navy, a great officer told me that you keep up by staying ahead. Staying ahead in the Navy, or in graduate-level work requires superior organization and discipline. This ingrained discipline and organization gives me an edge and a focus that many students lack. Let us be honest. There are only a few slots open in your program and I have to sell myself. Keeping the big picture while organizing the little picture is the key. A liberal arts education allows one the mental flexibility to do just that type of thing. It promotes creative problem solving which is necessary not just in the academic arena, but increasingly in almost every area of our lives today.

In your third question, you query the applicant if they have an area of focus, a topic, problem, historical period, question, or the like that they wish to explore while in the program. I am personally interested in the area of Homeland Security issues. At this point, I wish to digress and relate a personal story of 9/11 and my conversation with my best friend on the subject. We both mused that the world and our country were now changed beyond recognition. However, I added one caveat to this. I said to my friend that it was not so much what happened on 9/11. What concerned me more was the world we would wake up in on Sept 12, 2001. Certainly, our country and the world will never be the same. This gave a different focus to my military career in the hopes of making sure that a 9/11 event would never happen again. With modern war, the home front is as important as overseas. We must be vigilant and studies in such an area as homeland security studies are vital. While this may not be my entire focus, it occupies a healthy portion.

In your fourth question, you ask what my experience is and/or aptitude for completing academic work at a distance. Frankly, I have many friends and family members that have received degrees online. Their main issue (especially with younger people) in dealing with the online academic environment has been discipline. The online environment because of its asynchronous nature demands organization and self-discipline. In my opinion, this will not be a problem in my case. A person simply can not function in the U.S. Navy (especially as an officer or NCO) without discipline. The institution exudes a culture of self and institutional discipline that is in a person's vocational "DNA" after their initial training. This only grows with time and once one reaches retirement in the military, they are in an excellent position to continue this in the civilian sector, both in and out of academia. As an undergraduate student at Excelsior, I delivered a 3.75 grade point average. Certainly, the college can believe me when I state that I can definitively deliver similar results in the pursuit of a higher academic degree.