I started working in aerospace purely by chance. I am not an aerospace "legacy" living up to the family tradition. I was never overly excited about planes, satellites, or defense. I was simply a college graduate with student loans, no health insurance, and a strong desire to not be in school anymore. An opportunity presented itself for which I was qualified, the benefits were good, the location was perfect, and I took it. It just happened to be in aerospace.
I started work on March 5, 2004 with the excitement of the unknown and the thrill of a real paycheck. After a few weeks of experiencing big corporate aerospace life, I looked around at some of those "legacies" and swore that I wouldn't stay longer than five years. People laughed at me. I shrugged off their scoffs and renewed my pledge, vowing in the meantime to take advantage of that paycheck and all the other benefits the company had to offer.
After six short years of engineering school, I made no secret of the fact that I had absolutely no intentions of pursuing any kind of advanced degree. Student loans, student housing, arrogant professors--I was one college student who was none too eager to move on to the next stage of life. As I settled into big aerospace, however, I discovered one of those company benefits included fully subsidized continuing education. I was already prepared to put in five years, so it seemed like a waste not to pursue such an opportunity. I started a file folder labeled "Grad School" and began collecting information about schools, application requirements, and the GMAT.
On March 5, 2009, I received a certificate from my employer. It reads, "in appreciation of 5 years of valued service". Crap. Not only did I not have a Master's degree back in March, I wasn't even enrolled in school. I started to think about the past five years. They were hardly wasted, I invested big parts of my life in some big experiences that one could argue were at least comparable to graduate school, if not more valuable. I used each experience to grow but I also used each experience as an excuse to put that grad school folder back in the filing cabinet. Lingering in the back of my mind was the knowledge that I had this opportunity--an opportunity that few people have--that I had not taken advantage of. Staring at that certificate, I did not want to find myself five years later having the same conversation with myself. I dusted off that grad school folder and started studying for the GMAT.
Ironically, it was just a few weeks later that I found out about Alyssa. This was just the sort of detour that was going to have me staring at a "10 years of valued service" certificate, shaking my head and muttering "I could be a doctor by now". Jen and I discussed whether this was the best time for me to be going back to school. I would be working full time with two children under two at home. This was the best time for me to be going anywhere. I took out the file folder, sent in my application, and in December I received official word that I was accepted into the Management of Technology program at the University of Texas, San Antonio.
Why Management of Technology? Well, I think I did a good job of answering that question in my admissions essay, which you are welcome to read.