Why Grad School is a good idea

If someone would have told me my freshman year of college I would be completing a master’s degree in one year right after graduating with my bachelor’s degree, I wouldn’t have believed them.

The thought of going to graduate school would have terrified me five years ago. Now, I’m grateful that my hard work and the opportunities my university offers to students paved the way for me to be successful in my program.

During the fall semester of my senior year of college, one of my professors told me about a program the university offers for undergraduates wanting to get a head start on completing their master’s degree. I was toying around with the idea of getting my master’s, thanks to becoming passionate about the direction my professional career was taking. I also wanted to expand more on my academic career, especially in the realms of advertising and communications.

I didn’t want to stop learning just yet.

Here at Bowling Green State University, the BA to MA Accelerated Program for juniors and seniors allows us to jump start graduate school while completing the Bachelor’s degree. When I met with the coordinator director to talk about my interests and career path, he said that I would be a great candidate. I left his office and started the application process. Within a month, I received my acceptance letter and enrolled in my first graduate course. The following April, I accepted an assistantship offer to become a graduate assistant in the School of Media and Communication.

Fast forward more than a year later…my program has given me the experience and opportunities that will help in the long-term with my career path.

The connections I have made through my assistantship and classes allowed me to land an internship that made me realize that marketing is another area I would enjoy. For the internship, I’m redesigning an intranet, and building a website from scratch that launches at the end of this month. My master’s project has helped me grow in my research and writing skills in ways I didn’t know I was capable of, and now I’m on track to get published before the semester ends.

Putting the work towards a second degree has opened more doors for me and built on my prior years of college. Don’t let the thought of graduate school scare you. Do your research, embrace your passions and take that leap of faith.

Graduate school is a good idea.

Laney Borchers is a master’s student graduating in May 2020, and a graduate assistant in the School of Media and Communication.