My MDE Journey

   My decision to pursue my MDE was an easy one. I get a great deal of support and encouragement from my husband and my children. The execution of my decision has been a long and emotional one. The day I got my Bachelor's degree in 2005, my mother had a stroke following heart bypass surgery--her second such surgery. Unfortunately, she never fully recovered so we brought her down to North Carolina to care for her.
   After several months of recovered, she began to be able to communicate better and indicate understanding. I was finally able to tell her that I got my Bachelor's degree. It brought tears to her eyes. She knew now long and how hard I had worked to get to this point. After a few moments though, she said what sounded like "Keep going." I asked her if that's what she meant. Indeed it was, so what choice did I have. My mom was never quite herself again, but that encounter was one of the last glimpses I had of her "old self."
   She has since passed away, but I continue to draw strength from that moment and from her struggle to communicate. Sometimes I feel like I understand to a small extent how she felt not be able to convey her feelings in words. This research project and portfolio have proven to be a significant and unexpected challenge to me. I only wish my lifestyle afforded me more time and energy to devote to both endeavors.  

   To be honest, most of my journey has felt like I was just scraping by, able to get just enough done to make the grade. Now that I look back at my experience, it makes me kind of angry and sad that I was not able to devote more time and energy to it mostly because I have truly enjoyed it.

Professional Growth

   During the pursuit of my MDE, I have been able to take much of what I learn in my courses and apply it directly to my job as an instructional designer and curriculum developer. For example, when I took Distance Education Systems, as part of my final paper I developed an eLearning Style Guide for my development group. This is has been the case numerous times over the years because the curriculum for the MDE program has such direct real-life application.

Personal Growth

   Even though I feel like I am not able to keep all this information that is coming at me in my head, I do feel like I am able to locate it when I need it. Through the various courses requiring library and web research, I do feel empowered to perform an efficient search for information. I consider this personal growth because the process was so intimidating to me before.