APU Business Careers Careers & Learning

It’s Time to Finish Your Degree

By Dr. Oliver Hedgepeth
Program Director, Government Contracts and Acquisition at American Public University

Make a To Do List for Your InterviewAre you thinking about finishing that master’s degree? Maybe you are taking a course here and there in between family vacations, career deployments, deaths, and births and as your budget permits. My advice: find a way to get it done—soon.

I have a secret. I have three unfinished master’s degrees. One from American University in Management Information Systems, one for George Washington University in Operations Research, and one from Catholic University of America in Nuclear Engineering. Together they represent 54 graduate hours of courses. Together, they are totally worthless.

I was in my 20s and eager to be promoted, to have a great family, and to earn a master’s degree. But, time got away from me. The reasons are excuses. I moved several times.  I changed careers from an intelligence job to a job with the Army. I had deployments that took me away from the wife and family for months at a time. I had dozens of excuses to stop taking that next course.

Then, I changed directions three times. Each time I was convinced I was doing the smart thing. I was wrong. Deciding not to pursue a degree to the end was wrong. By the time I was 30, these academic undertakings were a failure I kept from everyone.

Then I reached my 40s and the path forward was a degree that would wash away the past. I entered into a graduate program at Old Dominion University, one that combined all that I had failed to complete years before. I was older, a bit wiser, and more focused. I have a Ph.D. as a master’s degree now.

I should have also had three other master’s degrees along with those two. But, I waited and made excuses too many times when younger. I share this story so you will be better than I was in my 20s and 30s regarding my education.

Stay the course. Stay focused. Learn how to work with your family and employer to bring balance to that degree program. Do it for you, your kids, your spouse, and/or your mom and dad. The personal and professional rewards will make it all worthwhile.

About the Author: Dr. Oliver Hedgepeth is the program director for Government Contracts and Acquisition at American Public University (APU). He is the former program director of Reverse Logistics Management and Transportation and Logistics Management. Prior to joining APU, Dr. Hedgepeth was a tenured associate professor of Logistics and chair of the Logistics Department at the University of Alaska Anchorage. His book, RFID Metrics, was published in 2007 by CRC Press and is in revision.

Comments are closed.