More time to coach little league games, more nights sleeping outside, more time with the people I love.
Since August of 2019 I’ve been participating in the Instructional Systems Design and Technology doctoral program at Sam Houston State University. For seven semesters I have focused on research-based tactics to help integrate technology into educational systems and instructional design, helping me be better at my job and giving me a better idea of how I can help improve the field of education as a whole.
I knew that my quest to become Dr. Briese would be challenging. I understood that it would take up inordinate amounts of my time and that it would frustrate me and challenge me in ways that I had never seen. Nonetheless, I still felt it was worth the time, effort, and money to pursue something that would follow me for the rest of my life. That’s why quitting the program this far into it is so hard…
When I began I was so excited to be back in school learning about a world of instructional technology that I am very passionate about. My coursework did not feel like work at all, it felt like I was working on a passion project akin to someone fixing up an old car or learning a new language. The research I was reading and essays I was writing were my hobby, not just extra work. I am a nerd, this is not a surprise to anyone. However, much like everything else in the world, all that changed on March 13, 2020.
COVID can be blamed for lots of things, but I am not blaming it for me quitting school. However, COVID taught me that time with my family and friends is precious. In the six months after the world began shutting down, working in the world of education, specifically in the world of educational technology, became very stressful. Long hours and constant stress that many in educational leadership roles were all too familiar with hit everyone who was trying to figure out how to have school remotely, in person, and in the midst of an ever-changing worldwide pandemic. I could not be more proud of the work that I participated in under the leadership of our school district and some of the most amazing educational minds around during that time. I will be telling stories about the work that we did and the mountains we climbed to help provide the best possible educational environment to everyone involved for the rest of my life. But man, was it hard.
Since then I have learned to appreciate time away, quality time with my family and friends, and time doing the things I treasure the most, more than ever before. Unfortunately, it was in the transition of me learning this that my coursework in my doctoral program ceased being a passion project, and became frustrating and excruciating extra work. My frustrations boiled over when I was kept from doing things with my family and friends because I was stuck at a computer doing work that had quickly become uninteresting to me. So I suffered through the work for almost a year, until the past few weeks when I told my amazing, ever-supportive wife that I was contemplating quitting because I thought that it was the best thing for all of us.
At first I tried to slap myself out of it. The old “suck it up buttercup” adage has worked on me before and has helped me power through tough times in the past. This time was different though. This time I really knew that the moments I would steal back over the year and half it would take to finish my doctorate would be far more valuable than being called Dr. Briese forever. Plus it would mean a lot less explaining to my children that I have to be on the computer working when I should be spending time with them.
Now I am spending the time I usually spent working on my classwork scheduling camping trips, designing little league practice drills, and enjoying spending more time with the people around me, most importantly with the three people I love more than anything else in the world. I would have been able to do all of those things in a year and half when I finished my program, but why wait until then when I can do it today?
Regret will come, I 100% anticipate that. In May 2023 it will hit me that I would have been done if I had stuck with it. However, I made the decision to quit about two weeks ago, and with every day that has passed I feel better about my choice. Which is why I am writing this.
I am lucky to have a job that I love that also (when there isn’t a pesky worldwide pandemic going on) allows me extra time to spend with my family over the holidays, spring break, etc… I am also lucky to have what I believe are the two most adorable children in the history of the universe call me Dad, along with an amazing wife who has worked tirelessly to turn an unorganized, smart aleck, disaster of a 23 year old into an unorganized, smart aleck 39 year old with a successful career and an amazing family (some things even she isn’t powerful enough to change). Becoming Dr. Briese won’t change any of that, which is what makes this decision easier.
More time to coach little league games, more nights sleeping outside, more time with the people I love. That’s all I want out of life, and it is pretty awesome to know that I am going to get it.
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