Staying Motivated while Pursuing a Master's Degree

STAYING MOTIVATED WHILE PURSUING A MASTER'S DEGREE
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Staying Motivated While Pursuing a Master's Degree
Whenever I tell people that I have two part-time jobs, a family, and pursuing a Master's degree, they are often fascinated because they do not understand how (and why) I keep motivated. Despite the demanding nature of postgraduate studies, many students manage to balance between part-time work and school. In terms of competitive advantage in the job market, regardless of the industry, a Master's degree is increasingly as important as bachelor's degrees were in the 1960s (Nelson, 2015). With several challenges facing postgraduate students, finding the motivation to enroll and complete a Master's degree is where the secret lies. Inherent Challenges in Pursuance of a Master’s Degree The cost of a master's degree is immense in the current political and economic climate. Recent statistics by the Education Data Organization reveal that a Master's degree costs an average of $66,340 in the United States. The cost, therefore, presents the first challenge in which motivation plays a key role. People can choose to pursue a Master's degree either through part-time classes or through full-time class attendance. The former is less intense but takes longer compared to the latter, which is characterized by intensity regardless of choice, the cost remains substantial. As a result, people choose to study while working. Other reasons for working through a Master's degree include gaining experience and establish networks. However, the key reason is the funding required for the degree program. For learners with financial difficulties, educational loans for Master’s programs presents a key demotivation factor (Adams et al., 2019). Earnings from work help sustain postgraduate students by either contributing to the tuition fee or daily requirements where the tuition fee is already catered for. Here, however, another challenge is posed. There is a need to balance between the job(s) and the degree. Attaining this balance is also a critical motivational issue because the combination is demanding exhausting. This is especially difficult for people with families. Such students must have no balance between work, family times, and school. In instances where they are the sole breadwinners, the challenges are even more demanding. Surviving this period requires resilience that can only be realized where the individual is highly motivated. While sustaining this motivation is a difficult task in the face of the mentioned challenges, it has been proved repeatedly that it is possible. How to Keep Motivated in the Process There are several ways a postgraduate student facing some or all of these challenges can remain motivated. Some of these strategies depend on the critical other areas in which the student is involved, aside from the Master's program. Motivation at the workplace, for instance, may differ from motivation at home where there is a family because demands are different and appeal differently to the emotional state of a person. At work, motivation traps can impede a person's pursuance...