Tag Archives: MPA

I Finished the First Year of an MPA Program

So, as I have already addressed I am an MPA student at CU Denver. I am completely online and asynchronous, so my experience is going to be different from traditional courses. I busted my ass this year for sure!

You know what feels the most weird? How fast the program is going. My goal was to complete the program in 2 years and that means 9 credits/3 classes a semester, which is over the recommended full-time status. In undergrad, it seems so much longer, and it actually took me 5 years to finish. Also, I would take 5-6 classes a semester and there were struggles but nothing like what I feel right now.

I cannot agree enough how right everyone is when they say that grad school is that much harder. Now … Yes, the course content is hard but I’m pretty sure it is compounded with the fact that 1) I am older now, 2) I can’t stay up until 3am finishing homework anymore, and 3) it is completely online. *My sister pointed out that I am social in class settings, which is true, therefore it makes it harder for me connect with both the content and the classmates.

I’ve met and connected with a few women through this program and I really appreciate their insight and their friendship. One is located in California and the other moved from California to Colorado in order to be closer to the school. We video chat often and keep communication lines open through text. It has dramatically helped my mood in school. It makes a huge difference to work on projects together and complain when it doesn’t make sense or its hard, haha.

During my first semester, I had a considerable amount of help from a very good friend. She double majored in English and Political Science at UH Hilo – and also works for the government. With her background, and her kindness, she got me started. Listen, when you come from an English undergrad background, you fall into the category of most people who don’t understand how government works, lol. She was a huge asset to me during the Fall semester and I am wholly grateful for the boost she gave me.

During the spring semester, I had no help … and I did it alone (no shade to my friend at all, life caught back up and we both had different obligations). Without her help during the fall to get me adjusted and transitioned back into school along with some small lessons of government fundamentals, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

When I first started the program, I was scared and had imposter syndrome – this was not going to be a good place for me and I would not be successful at this. But, I got a 4.0 this semester. Each discussion post, my own complete ideas and thoughts, and each paper written, were 100% my own. The one thing I learned, and value the most through this first half of my grad school journey, is that I am capable and this is exactly where I should be.

My experience thus far has been amazing and exhausting. I have a summer course that I start on Monday, and I am a little upset that my plans got derailed and am now forced to go to school in order to graduate on time. However, it worked out well because the course is Effective Grant Writing in Public Admin and Nonprofits – which is the only concentration course I absolutely wanted to take for very obvious reasons and it is only being offered this summer!! Blessings on blessings on blessings.

Happy Curl, Happy Girl

Signing off,

Curly Island Girl

How My First Semester of Grad School Went

I started grad school this past fall (2021)! I am completely asynchronous and remote in the Masters of Public Administration program at CU Denver. (I’ll probably do a little post on the pros and cons of asynchronous graduate school soon, too)

You know when they tell you grad school is hard? Yeah, they aren’t joking. This was absolutely the hardest semester of school Ive ever endured for sure. I am sure it is due to a combination of getting back into school after 3 years, doing it asynchronously, and just being expected to do more (be more).

For the first half of it, I had terrible imposter syndrome. Here I was, someone who has only really had one real long term job as a program coordinator, an undergrad background in mostly English literature with no real public service experience or previous thought of it, in this program with so many other well rounded and more experienced classmates. Learning to use a public service perspective was really hard and I am still trying to exercise that part of my brain.

I have a dear friend (with a background in both political science and English) who went above and beyond to help me understand policy and reframe my thinking to better understand how the public sector/government works. Mahalo piha my sweet hoa!

These are some things I have learned from last fall:

  • Group projects are still my least favorite. Not enough effort from teammates or people who want to run the show (and not follow rubric!!) causing our grades to suffer will always be annoying!!!
  • Collaboration with people you have never seen and will never see unless you are put in a group together is really hard, especially given that students span across the continental United States and overseas.
  • Digital note taking does not work for me. I really did try the first couple weeks of fall semester but I was not taking efficient notes and getting frustrated with having to look back at it on my iPad. I have since switched to paper and use the iPad for reference to articles my professors give me. I am okay with annotating these articles on the iPad too!
  • I reference Hawaiʻi in every aspect of my contributions to group discussions. This helps me to apply my life to these situations and to also share knowledge of Hawaiʻi with my peers. I may not get many comments, but the ones that do always thank me for sharing because they “had no idea”. (The majority of my peers do live in Colorado, so a lot of discussion posts from their end are geared towards and in reference to issues in Denver or other cities in Colorado).
  • The knowledge and experience I came in with may seem so little, but when I have online discussions with some of my peers … I donʻt feel so inexperienced. Not to throw shade at anyone, but sometimes they donʻt answer the prompt correctly – and tbh it makes me feel so much better about myself.
  • I like structured courses much better than “open-ended and loose” courses. I am very much a give me directions and a rubric and I will get it done to the best of my ability. I donʻt want to create my own module or do things a different way.
  • Math is still my worst subject. I was required to complete a college algebra course as a refresher for quantitative competency. I decided to take it with Straighter Line and that was the worst experience ever. There was no teacher – and being that math is my worst subject it was incredibly difficult for me to pass this online course. There was also no real structure. You complete it on your own time, so I had to sit and create a schedule twice to complete this course. p.s. I failed the final but passed the class with a 70%. It was my biggest stressor throughout fall semester, lol.
  • Teaching myself may not be the best idea. I would say in work settings, I can be self-directed for the most part, but of course like learning anything new, some training or direction is needed. Having to teach myself math was really hard. Numbers can confuse me really quickly. I also noticed that although I really want to learn ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi … again, I am trying to teach myself and it has been going unsuccessfully. I think for some things, or rather, most things, I need a mentor or teacher. (this is probably why I love education). For other topics, I have no problem doing research online on my own and teaching myself. I feel like itʻs a coin toss.

Anyways, it feels good to write about something and I am still actively looking for more ideas on what to write about. So if you have any suggestions, by all means … let me know.

Thanks for sticking around and if you made it this far, I appreciate you.

Happy Curl, Happy Girl

Signing off,

Curly Island Girl