Getting to the doctorate degree

There was a time when I was making plans other than getting a doctorate degree. Before I even finished my master’s degree, I had looked far and wide for a doctorate degree that would allow me to continue my studies through a terminal degree. I found several degrees that resonated with me, and all with a steep price tag. Given my advancing age, and that I care about things such as ROI, I struggled to make the case for pursuing a terminal degree with a 6-figure price tag.

I started making other plans for my future, which centered mostly on my entrepreneurial dreams and ambitions. Having enjoyed being in business for myself in prior years, I had (and still have) a vivid picture in my mind of my next business venture and was working toward the goal of launching within a couple of years while still working my day job.

Then one day while scrolling through a social media platform, an ad for Texas Lutheran University’s Doctorate in Education in Organizational Leadership popped up. I had never seen it before and haven’t seen it since. Just that one time, seeing that one ad, that led me to check out their website, where I discovered a more affordable degree that seemed right for me. I reached out to them, and they reached back out to me almost immediately.

That path led me to apply for the program in November 2023. I got the news that I was accepted in January 2024. For my family and I, 2024 was a big year: my oldest son graduated from college, and my youngest son graduated from high school and entered the military. We would all be experiencing life differently soon, and this doctorate degree came along just at the right time in my life, like divine providence lifting me from the emotional fog of a mom who has graduated from single mother to empty nester. I’ll always be a mom first, but I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have this learning experience and feel blessed that it came along when it did.

You never know what is going to set you on the right path in life. This path I’m on, getting this doctorate degree, has led me to meet some of the most amazing professionals I have the pleasure of working with. My professors are amazing, and my cohort members are some of the smartest people I know. It’s not an easy road getting a degree like this, but together we are learning and growing professionally and academically.

As I’m writing this, we’re finishing up EDUD 732 Leadership for Transformational Change and Innovation, which has taught me so much. Like the two courses that came before it, I have learned to think about things I might never have been exposed to but for this degree, and it has been an amazing ride so far.