I find myself to be in a somewhat unique position among students here at Rockhurst University. First, I did not begin my collegiate career at the Rock; instead I played baseball at William Jewell for a year and a half before becoming a Hawk. After leaving Jewell, I moved back in with my parents (which certainly had its benefits… free meals and mom doing my laundry). But the desire to become more involved with the college life was consuming me, so I decided to move into an OCH. By fall 2007, I was a full member of the Rockhurst community, and not simply one of those “commuter students.”
I graduated in December with a degree in History and a minor in Business, and am currently in my first semester of Rockhurst’s 5th Year MBA Program. My roommates, Ben Skoch and Sean Kimbrell, are graduating in May, and both of them are looking to go to med-school. Between the three of us, we seemingly cover both ends of the educational spectrum. They are eagerly anticipating graduation, going through their last few months while trying to avoid the Senior Slide. I don’t envy them at all. It takes me back to only a few months ago, when I was in the same boat they are in now. Then it hit me: Being an undergraduate student is NOTHING like being a graduate student.
So what differences have I noticed between undergrad and grad school?
The first major difference is the free time. My poor roommates spend countless hours writing papers, studying, writing more papers, and capping it off with more studying. I apologize to them if I make them sound like non-social nerds, because they’re definitely not. I’ve been there before; I spent many long nights writing papers and studying (not nearly as many nights as I should have, but still… I’ve put in my time), but now that I’m in grad school, I find myself constantly having loads of free time. Why is this? Because I’m taking 10 credit hours, and I work approximately 20 hours a week for my uncle, who has a landscaping business. Yes, that’s right… I’m a day laborer by day and an MBA student by night.
I have class only two nights a week, and the basic preparation for class goes something like this: Monday night’s class: Read two chapters (about 20 pages total) and two articles, for a grand total of 45 minutes of solid homework. Tuesday night’s class involves either writing a one-page paper or preparing a five-minute presentation.
This brings me to the second difference I’ve noticed: The workload required for classes in the MBA program is very different than what I experienced as an undergrad. I start preparing for my Monday night class around 3:00 PM on Monday afternoon, and usually finish in time to take a quick nap before my 5:45 class. The routine is basically the same for my Tuesday class.
The third and perhaps most important difference: I would estimate my nap time has increased approximately 300% since I entered grad school.
I thoroughly enjoy living a relatively lazy life this semester, but realize this will soon come to an end. I’m 23, and beginning the process of looking for a full-time job that will give me the opportunity to utilize the skills I’ve learned while at Rockhurst. Plus, the possibility of earning more than $11/hr is intriguing to me. As I’ve been told many times by many business professors, the average MBA grad earns roughly $90,000 their first year after graduation. I’m not gonna lie, I love mowing lawns and mulching and fertilizing for my uncle, but I’d have to work over 8000 hours a year to make the same kind of money that I’d be looking at as an MBA grad. I don’t even know if there are that many workable hours in a year (remember, I’m a history/business guy, not one of those math people!)
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