Career Composer

Should I Go to Grad School? with Sarah Marsan

• Erin Ahart

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In this episode of Career Composer, Erin Ahart chats with Sarah Marsan about her journey deciding whether or not to go to grad school. Sarah shares her story from undergrad to her current role, the challenges she's faced, and what helped her make her decision. Erin also gives a sneak peek into the next episode, where she shares her career coach's perspective on every factor you should consider before going to grad school. 

Timestamp: Career content - 6:33

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This is Career Composer. I'm Erin, and I'm helping you, professionals under 30, navigate your careers with a music themed twist. I'm giving you the job search and career advice you need to get that job, but we'll also talk about music, how to balance our personal and professional lives, and figure out what we're meant to do. Ready? Let's go.

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hello, and welcome to Career Composer. My name is Erin Ahart. I'm a full time career counselor and I'm helping you, professionals under 30, navigate your careers with a music themed twist. Today I'm so excited because I'm here with my friend Sarah Marsan, discussing her experience deciding whether or not to go to grad school. Sarah is an admissions officer at a university here in Washington, D. C. and is one of the first people I met when I moved to this city. Let's Sarah is so kind, so hilarious, and she does not hold back. She was so honest in this episode. And even I learned things about her that I didn't know. You'll hear Sarah share her professional journey, what has been challenging what has helped her decide and where her decision with grad school stands now. This episode is very casual and the purpose is to give you a perspective from someone who is currently deciding whether this decision is right for them. In our next episode, two weeks from now, I'll give you my perspective as someone who currently coaches graduate students and has come out on the other side of getting my master's degree. This episode will be every factor you should consider before going to grad school. So again, be on the lookout for that two weeks from now. Every episode of Career Composer starts with some kind of music theme that leads into our career content called The Prelude. And today's music topic happens with Sarah in our conversation, so for now, here are just a couple of housekeeping items. If you want to get right into the career content, the timestamp is in the show notes below. You can stay up to date on all things, career composer by following us on Instagram at career composer and check out any of the music we talk about on this podcast via our master career composer playlist. You can send in your song and playlist recommendations and check out our playlist once again, via the links in the show notes below. Let's get into it.

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Hi, sarah

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Hi, Erin.

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Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. So how does it feel to be career composer's very first guest?

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Well, first off, thank you for having me. I am very excited about this episode. I love talking to my friends about what it means to be in your young I just feel like this is such an interesting slash weird time in our lives. Where everyone has suddenly gotten off of the predetermined path of elementary school, middle school, high school, college. And now we are all in wildly different places. I have friends getting married. I have friends getting promoted. I have friends sitting at home trying to find a job. And this is really the first time that we can't compare ourselves because again, we're in totally different

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right

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So I'm so happy today that we're having a conversation about choosing what is right for you. Because again, this time of your life is all about you.

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I could not agree more. So today we're going to talk about your experience with deciding whether or not to go to grad school. But first, as you know, we love music here. So please tell our listeners, what is your favorite song, favorite album, and a favorite Okay,

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is your favorite song, favorite album, and favorite artist?

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Well, you're not basic for liking Noah Kahan. I was liStening to NPRs podcast, all songs considered. And in 2023, one of the most called in songs of last year was call your mom. So everyone's calling their mom, apparently.

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We're all basic here.

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yes, we are. and a few weeks ago we had a very intense About Bridgerton.

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Yes. So you know how they do covers of very popular pop songs? Yes. I'm obsessed.

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So

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I will admit I am not a music girly. I don't know anything about music. I don't know the words or the language to describe music. I can't tell you why I like some things and I don't like others, but wow, did I love the instrumentals for all the pop songs? It was just a fun little brain game where you had to. Recall what song that was and then input the lyrics back onto it.

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Right.

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I love it. I love it.

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I love it. What are a couple of the songs that stuck out to you? I'm thinking of a couple right

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have a couple right now. Halo in Queen Charlotte's, little spinoff series. And then also Yellow in Penelope's season.

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I will never forget the first time I heard thank you next in the first season. That was it for me. Like that moment I was hooked. And then, also in Queen Charlotte, I ain't got you,

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So good!

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So good. And then after we talked about Bridgerton, I went on a deep dive into instrumental covers of pop songs. And I found this duo, it's cello piano, and they're called the Brooklyn Duo. They have absolutely beautiful covers and there was this one song. I think I texted it to

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This was the best text I ever received. This right here.

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was their cover of as it was by harry styles, but wc's claire de lune You know what I'm talking about. It leads into the cover of As It Was. It was amazing. I'm obsessed.

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Hit different.

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Yes. So, if you haven't seen Bridgerton, I don't know what you're doing. But all of these songs will be on our Master Career Composer playlist where you can go and check them out.

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So, now getting into it with grad school. Sarah, you are currently deciding whether or not to get your master's degree. So, what has been your journey getting here and where did it all start

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I would say that I have to start with undergrad. So, I loved undergrad. I loved the community feel. I loved learning. I loved being with my friends. I was sad to leave.

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Oh, and where did you go?

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oh yeah, I went to Franklin and Marshall College, which is a small liberal arts school in Lancaster, PA.

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Very nice, very

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And this might be a hot take, but one of the charms of a liberal arts degree is that you never really have to choose what you want to do. So yes, I picked biology as my major, but then I also took classes in Gov, in English, in chemistry, and I loved all of them.

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Amazing.

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it's amazing, but it also never forced me. to actually start thinking about what I want to do. So that leaves me at graduation, where the majority of my friends had a plan, and I had no plan besides moving back home to my parents house in Connecticut.

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Okay.

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So, even though I had no plan, I was under the assumption that once I decided what it was that I wanted to do, I would be able to land a job.

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You would think.

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What would they think? But I was so incredibly humbled. I ended up being at home for an entire year trying to get a job. When I first got home, I was thinking about what I wanted to do. And then three or four months into it, it was just like, I was like, I'll apply to anything because I want to land just about anything and I am willing to make these crazy connections between my very limited experiences to land this whatever job that I was applying to. So. While I was applying to jobs, I also held a bunch of part-time gigs, so I was a sous chef. I coached high school soccer, I tutored for the SAT, and then I also cleaned houses again. Me with no direction.

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Okay, but all of those other jobs are so cool though. Like, a sous chef? I'm doing them. An SAT tutor? That is so cool.

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Um, a lot of them are just from the random things I did in college that I enjoyed. So I played soccer. I joined mock trial. I tried ultimate Frisbee. I did it all. So I'm just like, just keep on doing the random things that I like to do. Why not?

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Yeah,

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Yeah, so about 11 months into it, applying to jobs, I finally landed an interview for my current role. I'm an admissions officer for a university. Yeah, so I should clarify that I'm an admissions officer for a graduate program, and from my understanding that is different for being an admissions officer in undergrad, there are things that I do day to day, so I act as the face of the program, meaning I'm the person answering the emails, I'm picking up the phone, meeting with applicants for a tour, for counseling, for general questions. So that, that's the bare bones of it. And then I am also one of the people that reviews the applications. So,

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so fun.

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uh, I never know what I'm gonna end up reading.

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I'm sure.

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People take the essays a bunch of different directions. Which, he's a very entertaining for me. Beyond that, I actually do quite a bit of marketing for my job. I have no experience in it whatsoever, but I started designing, email campaigns and newsletters posters for info sessions. That has been a great opportunity for me and something that's really allowed me to use a creative part of myself that I never knew I

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never knew I had. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Well, first of all, hearing your story is so relatable, I think, to so many people. Going back to not choosing a career, or like Being drawn to one specific thing. I feel like it's actually harder when that is your experience I feel like it's actually easier to choose a career when you know what you don't like

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Yeah, that was my problem don't like. Any more clear in what they needed to do to become a doctor. Meanwhile, I'm over here like he, he, he I'll take this class and this class and we'll see where that takes me. But then also one year into my first big girl job, I thought I would have a gut reaction either way. I thought that I would love this position or I would hate it and I would have something to work with. But here I am. Thinking this is fine. Like this is good. I don't know if I'll find better, but I guess it could be

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you will, you will. You will, but I feel like that's normal too. We need to normalize things being fine, first of all. I'll

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Um, Long story short,

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But, in your current role though, this is what's kind of led you to your decision about whether or not to go to grad school, right?

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Yes. So something really cool about working at least at my university is that they offer something that's called tuition remission, which means essentially that I could go back to school for free.

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Which is amazing.

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Which isn't amazing. It's amazing. It's amazing. idea and concept for two reasons. A, because I have a lot of undergrad debt, and B, because I just don't have a plan for my future. So,

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Okay. So, now that you're in the midst of this decision what has that process been like of actually making the decision? Has it been stressful, exciting?

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Yes. It's been something that has been sitting in the back burner of my mind for about a year now. And then every weekend when I have an hour or two to spare I'll scroll through the offered programs and really think about it for that hour or two and then it'll go back to the back burner. but honestly it's been kind of stressful for me just because I feel like I have a time crunch. I know that the program will take at least two years. That means two years that I would have to stay in my current position.

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And you would be working full time and going to school part time,

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Yes, and honestly, that's a big deal. I already feel like my day is entirely taken up by my nine to five because in the morning, I work out and get ready to go to work and then I go to work and I come home and I decompress from work Before thinking about my next day of work and like i'm not saying that my job is stressful I just think that's the nature of a nine to

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Yeah, it's most of your life.

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it's the majority of my day And of course i'm a young 20 year old I want to have a social life believe it or

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yes.

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You So, how much am I willing to sacrifice for this degree?

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Mm-Hmm. Right, right. So it sounds like you've been thinking about this decision for some time. What other factors are you considering? What are the pros and cons?

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First thing that comes to mind is the question, If not now, when? I work with a lot of faculty members that have families on top of their full time jobs and meanwhile they are trying to get their PhD and they are telling tales of all these different things that they're trying to juggle, being a husband or wife, being a parent, being a professor. and I'm here like my biggest responsibility is making sure I show up to work. And even if I didn't do that, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

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And pay your rent and deal with roommates and all the other things.

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Okay, yes, I'm doing other things. But

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essentially, yeah,

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don't have that many responsibilities in comparison to what I will have. Perhaps 10 years down the line. Then there's obviously the factor that this is perhaps the one time in my life that it will be free. So again, if not now, when? Not many people have this opportunity that I have and I'm really scared of letting that opportunity pass me by. I would say that I also have been thinking a lot about closing doors. When I scroll through the different grad programs that I could choose from, I am so worried About quote unquote closing doors. And what I mean by this is if I choose this one degree, what career paths am I closing off as someone who really struggles with decisions? I want to keep as many careers open to myself as possible and not even just open myself, open them for

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Yeah

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So it's kind of picking that degree that would. open as many opportunities for the things that I'm interested in, which are a lot of things.

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Yeah, that makes total sense. I think that many people when they think about going back to school, they're getting that extra education to take them to the next level, to get a promotion at work or to specialize in a specific area. But in your case, you're getting your degree to open doors, not close them and not funnel yourself into a niche per se. So that really makes total sense. Yeah. So, is there anything that you've done that has been really helpful in making a decision? Whether it's to gain more information, to do research, maybe some informational interviews or shadowing. Is there anything that you've done that you think our listeners could implement if they're struggling to make their decision?

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Yeah, so I will say the first thing that I did was that I looked at what programs were even offered at my university. That was step number one. And fortunately, but unfortunately, the university offers a ton of different master's programs. However, I will say that when I was looking at the programs, I also looked at their curriculum. one thing I feel like I might be able to cross off the list is getting a master's in higher education. Just because when I look through the classes that I would have to take They didn't really resonate with me and they didn't really click Which is interesting because again, I love campus environment. I am fine with my job right now So I was kind of surprised that I I didn't really click with the curriculum, but whatever.

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I also love that because a lot of people, when they go to school, they think about the outcome. Like, what can I do with this degree? But, it's so important to know that you're going to like what you learn, and that you're going to be gaining skills that you actually want to take with you, in addition to just the name of the degree, because If you're open to a lot of options, you want to be able to talk about those transferable skills. So anyway, love that you did that.

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thank you, thank you. Another thing that I did was I met with the program chair. So, to be fair, one day she walked up to my desk and asked why I haven't gotten on her calendar yet. So I didn't really have to take much initiative. But I will say I am very fortunate in working in a supportive environment where I feel like a lot of people are invested in my education. So her reaching out to me was almost her forcing me to confront this

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Yeah.

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Because I can't imagine going back to her in a year being like, Oh, I just kind of forgot about it. This made me think about it head on.

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Yeah, in your professional role it's almost like, so Sarah, have you made your decision yet? feel like

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some kind of accountability from her. Um, but anyway, when I met with her, because I did, because if anyone's nice to you, you have to meet with them.

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exactly, yes. yes.

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Yes. The first thing that she told me to do was to shadow either a physician or a PA, just to make sure that that wasn't something that I wanted to do.

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Your grad program is in Is a PA program? Yeah,

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physician assistant program and I love both the faculty and the students and I don't know if I love them because they're just good people and they're good people I would want to work with, or do I want to work for them? Like what,

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Yeah.

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what do I want to do with this amazing group of people? And is this my amazing group of people?

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Right.

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So that was the first thing she told me to do. And then the second thing she told me to do was she told me to get on the internet, look up job openings, see which ones I would want to do and I would not want to do, make a list, and then see which degrees matched with those different

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Mm hmm. Very smart.

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Yeah, so from there, I actually shadowed a surgeon.

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Okay. How was that?

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Again, and this sounds so silly, me trying to explain to the program chair this concept. Are you ready? I didn't have an immediate gut reaction. She told me I would and I, I didn't have it. I thought that I would either be like, this is the coolest thing ever. We are cutting open a human body or the, Oh my God, that's disgusting. We're cutting open a human body. But I'm still like, hee, hee, hee, like, this is good. And I think part of it is that it really satisfied some things that I'm, I like.

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Like what?

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They worked in a team setting. So the surgeon worked very closely with a PA who worked very closely with one of our students. So it was a little cute trio. Also there was a lot of patient interaction and I love meeting new people. I love getting to know people. Like those are two things I enjoy, but. Would I find them elsewhere? Yes. Is this a job for me? I don't know. Um, so that was another not really helpful thing.

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But you should shadow people so you know,

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yes, do it.

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do get a gut reaction. So

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So yes, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity, wish I had a better sense of what I got out of it, but I don't. And then, For looking up jobs, I looked up jobs and there was a bunch of different degrees that popped up. So here we are.

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Okay. Okay. So first of all, that's awesome that you had the chance to do all of those things, whether it was just looking through the kinds of degrees that you could get even, on your lunch break and then shadowing and talking to the program head. That's all super helpful. But you and I, we've talked outside of this podcast. Yes. And. What impresses me the most about you is that if you want to learn something new or you want to try something new, you don't wait for it to be handed to you.

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thank you

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And I think in this stage of life, it's really easy for people to feel stuck, especially if you don't know what your next steps are. So I think what's important is that. We all continue to seek out small ways that we can gain new skills or improve ourselves, even if we don't know what our dream job or our passion is Something that you recently told me is that you're participating in something called Toastmasters. Can you tell us what that is and what prompted you to get started with it?

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Yeah. So Toastmasters is, I believe, an international club where you can practice public speaking, gain leadership experience, and then also get comfortable doing on the spot public speaking. It's kind of funny how I stumbled across this one. So in one of the applications that I read, a girly pop. wrote about her experience in Toastmasters and said how much it helped with her public speaking skills.

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and

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I immediately, like, Googled Toastmasters in Washington, D. C. And there were so many clubs in D. C. that you can

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I was

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I was just like, okay, sign me up, I'm good. so that's when I talked to my boss about

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about it. Okay.

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It was actually just around the same time that I was going to have my one year review. And before your review you have to reflect on things that you want to work on and In that I said that I want to work on public speaking Because in my job we hold information sessions where a bunch of applicants come to learn more about the program right now I feel like i'm held back because I am so deathly afraid of public speaking.

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But you would never know one on one.

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Yeah, I hide it really well until I'm on that stage and I'm like, get me out of here. I'm going to pee myself, got to run. so then I wrote my boss a proposal where I listed how much it would cost the program, not much, what I would gain from it and why it would be a valuable experience for my position now.

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Okay. That is awesome. also another skill is knowing how to bring things to your boss that you want to do. So good, good for you. Cause that's intimidating.

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with that for you, because I'm sure you can do it. And it's something that we do

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and it's something that we do need to learn how to do. But that's amazing. I'm so proud of you for doing that. And I'm sure you're becoming an even better public speaker. I can't wait to see you in action.

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goodness. Me too.

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But to wrap up our conversation about grad school. What are your final thoughts on what you've learned and what are the biggest takeaways that you think our listeners should know?

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to be upfront, I am leaning towards getting a master's. I feel like I'm in a unique position where when you remove money from the equation, It's pretty hard to say no. Though I am very realistic with it. So one thing that I learned from my bachelor's degree is just because you have the degree doesn't mean you get the job. And just because you have the master's doesn't mean you get the promotion or the money or the title change. At the end of the day, it's really about kind of how you market yourself. I think I'm going into it with a healthier mindset than I had for undergrad in that I know this is not a life changing degree. I'm not going to get a degree and suddenly have all careers open to myself. I'm still going to have to put in the work as you do when you finish your undergrad degree and find yourself with a bunch of different Opportunities that really had closed doors.

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So yeah. And it is a huge resume booster. So there's so many pros to getting your master's degree. And which one are you thinking about? Have you settled on or in between two?

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I am leaning heaviest towards a MBA. I feel like that is the most universal degree in that you can apply it to just about everything. Originally, I was leaning towards a Masters of Public Health, but upon doing quite a bit of research, I found that a lot of what you do with a public health degree, you could also do with an MBA.

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MBA. Interesting.

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So, might as well do my favorite thing and keep all doors open so I can prolong making a decision.

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No, I, I think that's great that you are like getting close to really making your decision. I can't wait to hear about it. Hopefully you let me know when you enroll. If you do move forward,

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be like, I made a

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I did it. That's going to be such a good day though. I've been curious. So I was kind of looking up the MBA program that you're considering. I've also been talking to other people who are currently in the MBA program now, and it is a hard program. And I've heard that there are so many opportunities that come from it because I think the MBA comes with clout. Yeah, which I didn't really realize as a career counselor. I didn't realize, you know, how in such high regard people hold that degree.

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because it is also one of the most popular, if not the most popular degrees. So I am curious to know how many people have one and if it still holds the same amount of weight with so many people having them.

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Hmm. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Part three, four, five.

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And we just continue on.

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Yeah. But thank you so much. I am so appreciative that you are willing to talk to me about this. as your friend, I love hearing about your journey in this decision, but I also just really do think it's going to be so helpful to anybody who listens to this episode, who's going through the same thing. Um, course, course, and so just really quickly, um, if you enjoyed this conversation with Sarah, I'm really hoping that she can come back and give us an update sometime in the future, but please let us know if you found this conversation helpful, either in the comments or please leave a review wherever you're listening to your podcast, because it really helps us know, especially with this podcast being brand new, if this kind of episode is helpful. So today you got to hear Sarah's perspective and then in the next episode, I will go over every factor you should consider when deciding whether to go to grad school. So I'll really go right down the list. and really make sure that we talk about every single thing that you should consider if you're in this boat. So again,

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you have to send that to me first. yes.

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Well, I want your input. I want your input.

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Oh, thank you. Bye, everyone.

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I hope you found today's episode helpful. Career Composer will be back with a new episode every other Monday. And if today's topic really resonated with you, I hope you'll consider leaving a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Reviews will really help this podcast grow so I can keep bringing you the career content that you want. You can also email me at careercomposerpodcast at gmail. com with feedback or questions, because I want to give you the career advice that you actually want to hear. That's all for now. Thank you so much for listening. I'll see you next time and have a great day.

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Erin Ahart

Host