Bernice Johnson Reagon
This experience has been quite challenging and very fulfilling.
During the first four months I experienced a high level of apprehension and tension from the unknown of online Master’s education. There was plenty going on. In my first week of classes we left to Georgia on a planned visit to family and I started my work without any Internet service. With this being an online education requiring high speed Internet I was stressed out.
One of my positions at the college is the Women’s soccer coach, so in early August when our college started again I was busy with 2 practices a day, coaching the ladies, preparing for games, planning travel, driving to games, managing supplies, and maintaining the facilities. Along with coaching, I am the Director of Chapel Arts, where my responsibilities encompass managing the audio and video technology we use a couple of times a week, training and managing the video team who records our services, learning a new console we use for sound and training the staff, working with the worship teams and speakers, and planning future events. As the semester moved along my responsibilities transformed into working with special projects, conferences, and events. While still coaching the women’s team, I taught one class in the fall and one class in spring during this process and enjoyed working with the students.
In August my wife and I learned our four-person family, my wife, my two daughters, and me would be expecting a fifth member, a third daughter. The excitement was palpable with the anticipated arrival. As I looked at the schedule I realized my wife would be delivering during the same week I would be finishing my Master’s degree classes. Fear and trepidation filled my heart as I tried to figure out how I was going to be able to support my wife, fulfill the responsibilities of my job, recruit and prepare my soccer team for the coming season, provide enough time and involvement in my daughters, and continue the success I have experienced in the Master’s program. The unknown was starting to take over my psyche.
The greatest wife on the planet, helped me regain my focus and I started to take it one day at a time. Now with the light at the end of the tunnel having completed my thesis, 11 classes behind me and 1 to complete, and my final project close to completion I can feel the sun shining and the can smell the clear crisp smell of the coast. Soon I will be fishing off the docks of Georgia reflecting on a life-changing journey, victorious battle, and wide-open future this process has given to me.
"The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges."
Martin Luther King Jr
Oh, it must have been so overwhelming to be devoid of a high speed internet connection while pursuing an online education program. With all your obligations and responsibilities, I am so amazed by your time management skill, and how you use each moment to do something worthwhile. I know it's a bit late, but I would still like to congratulate you for your master's degree and your third daughter. Truly, determination and perseverance goes a long way.
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