I'm sure many of you have had ideas of going back to school, just like I have had the "idea". Some of you have acted on it. Some of the people reading this went straight from their undergraduate degrees on to attain their masters. Some are in the process of doing so as I type. I have toyed with so many ideas I'm sure my friends and family will never take another "possible life transition" seriously. For those who don't know, in 2004 I graduated from Roanoke College with my Bachelor's of Business Administration, with two minors - Sociology and Health Care Administration. I know - who takes sociology with business? But, as you may have noticed, I'm a rather nosy person and enjoy learning about other people and their lives, issues, successes, etc. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to work in a hospital. My favorite college course was Health Care Economics. I took that course my last semester at Roanoke, which I found very helpful when applying for jobs, reviewing benefits packages, etc. After graduation I worked for a year in an unrelated field of study - food. Although I enjoy food, I will never ever ever again work in the food industry. I have a great respect for those employees and services, but no more slingin' burgers for me. So when a friend of mine said she was going to nursing school and was looking for someone to fill her position as an HR Assistant in a hospital I jumped at the chance to interview. It might have helped that I was her friend, and that her dad is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the hospital. But hey - I'm not proud....I got the job and have loved working at Sibley ever since. After about a year of working as an HR Assistant I was reevaluating my decisions regarding further education. I knew what a nurse made - starting out - and it was more than I was presently making. So I did a little research and discovered that with the classes I had taken at Roanoke, if I wanted to go to nursing school to become an RN, I could do it by going part time - and I could finish in about 2 years. I was psyched, and most of my co-workers were very encouraging. Most of them, with the exception of the VP of HR - Queenie. Queenie and I are very similar in the sense that we are type A personalities and that we like things done a certain way - our way!!! She was devastated that I would consider going to school and then leave in 2 years. So after about a semester of attending nursing classes I was promoted and got an awesome raise$!$!$ Needless to say, I discontinued nursing school. But I've always thought about going back - whether it be to nursing school, law school or simply to get my Master's in Human Resources Management or Health Care Administration. I've spoken with Queenie several times on the topic and each time she encourages me that the Master's is the way to go. So I've researched and attended some information sessions, but am still so lost on what to do. But what I can say is that Queenie is good - she's damn good.
Last year, as a ploy to encourage me to go back to school Queenie asked that I come be a guest lecturer for her students. Queenie is a Professor of Human Resources at Georgetown University. Wow! How exciting - I was scared to death. But I accepted and went in October 0f 2007 and spoke for about an hour.
This year Queenie asked something even bigger of me. She knew she was going to be out of town this year for one of her classes. She asked that I teach BY MYSELF!!! Talk about mindblowing - I probably couldn't get into Georgetown if I applied - but ... I can teach there :) So, again I accepted. I got to St. Mary's Hall early tonight to make sure I setup my powerpoint properly. I plugged my flash drive into their "high tech" computer station and actually knew what I was doing. I finished just in time as the students started piling in - all in their comfy jeans, sweathshirts and flip flops - oh, how I miss college. I must confess, I did bribe the students with a basket full of halloween candy - which was empty by the end of class - but all in all it went quickly and without incident. So, just call me Professor Merrill!!!
Last year, as a ploy to encourage me to go back to school Queenie asked that I come be a guest lecturer for her students. Queenie is a Professor of Human Resources at Georgetown University. Wow! How exciting - I was scared to death. But I accepted and went in October 0f 2007 and spoke for about an hour. 
This year Queenie asked something even bigger of me. She knew she was going to be out of town this year for one of her classes. She asked that I teach BY MYSELF!!! Talk about mindblowing - I probably couldn't get into Georgetown if I applied - but ... I can teach there :) So, again I accepted. I got to St. Mary's Hall early tonight to make sure I setup my powerpoint properly. I plugged my flash drive into their "high tech" computer station and actually knew what I was doing. I finished just in time as the students started piling in - all in their comfy jeans, sweathshirts and flip flops - oh, how I miss college. I must confess, I did bribe the students with a basket full of halloween candy - which was empty by the end of class - but all in all it went quickly and without incident. So, just call me Professor Merrill!!!
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