University of Michigan Flint MA

University of Michigan-Flint:

Master of Science in Leadership & Organizational Dynamics (MSLOD) 

I am a law enforcement officer, currently working as a supervisor. I will graduate this summer with a bachelor’s degree in the field of criminal justice. I am very proud to have completed my degree, which required me to balance the responsibilities I hold for my job with those I have at home as a wife and mother to two children under the age of six. But despite the fact my degree was in criminal justice, and my profession is in law enforcement, my interests have begun to change and shift. I am looking for a new start in life, and to leverage some of the additional skills and interests I gained in college. I seek to improve my career prospects as well as add to my knowledge with graduate study.

The Master of Science in Leadership & Organizational Dynamics (MSLOD) would enable me to eventually work outside the criminal justice field. I could apply the managerial and interpersonal skills I have learned working as a law enforcement to business. The MSLOD would enable me to make additional links between my current capacities and the needs of the marketplace. Understanding the psychology of leadership and how leaders can improve the ways in which their organizations function would be one of my goals in embarking upon graduate degree. The MSOD seems like the ideal type of degree to build upon my strengths as a leader and as a professional.

My current career has taught me resiliency, mental toughness, discipline, and how to work effectively with many different personality types under pressure. All of these will make me an effective manager, regardless of the organization where I choose to work. However, I realize that given my professional background and degree are in the law, the MDLOD is necessary to forge a link between my past and present interests and talents. It would increase both my marketability and my capabilities in the job market.

Entering a new field can be difficult, and the MSLOD degree would offer me an ideal launching pad. The focus of the degree is broad enough to give me flexibility in the types of work I seek, but also targeted and focused for someone who is switching paths mid-career. The fact it is online is necessary for me to continue to support my family while I study. I like the fact that the course combines asynchronous and synchronous virtual learning. While the majority of the class can be scheduled according to my work needs, I can still have the types of worthwhile face-to-face interactions which can make learning so rewarding and exciting in college. This will also give me better opportunities to network and learn from my fellow students as well as my instructors.

The ability to learn from and interact with individuals from all over the country would bolster my knowledge of different professions and positions within organizations, and better orient me to the inner workings of different businesses. Since most of my experience is grounded in law enforcement, I would look forward to the opportunity to speak with and learn from colleagues in the for-profit sector I wish to enter.