Contemplating my Master’s Degree

I wanted to pursue my Master’s degree two years ago. Because I was the national president of a youth organization, I couldn’t. Now that my tour of duty is over, I could pursue my master’s degree.

My undergraduate degree was Political Science. When I tell this to people, they naturally assume that I wanted to take up Law. Yes, I did want to. Until my eyes were opened, that is. Hahah. I was told that there is only one slot for lawyers in heaven. Most likely, it’s taken!

Seriously, when I was in my third year at UP Diliman, I wanted to transfer to BA Creative Writing or Comparative Literature. My rational mind took over, however and I chose the pragmatic route. I finished Political Science. But I decided that I would pursue a career close to my passion, which is literature and writing.

Fast track to a few months ago, I was thinking whether to take up MBA, Master in Ministry, or Master in Communication. I conducted a bit of research. UP does offer Media Studies under the College of Mass Communications, but the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) offers Master in Communication with specialization in Multimedia communication. When I asked about the program in UP, I was already past the deadline. Besides, the tuition fee in UP is now much higher.

I realized later that the specialization in Multimedia Communication was no longer offered. Too late. I was already committed and there’s no turning back. I ended up signing up for the Communication Management specialization. That’s no problem with me because I am a freelance writer and blogger. I can definitely use the knowledge I will gain. Who knows, some company will hire me then. Hahah.

Some people are also asking me why PUP? For one, PUP is now the only university that could really claim that its students are “Iskolar ng Bayan.” It is everybody’s school. UP used to be like that, but with the recent increase in tuition, it has become virtually impossible for the lower middle class and lower class families to afford UP education.

Sigh. So much for education. It’s very costly nowadays.

Last Saturday, before going to the 13th French Film Festival at the EDSA Shangri la Plaza, we had the Graduate School orientation at PUP. It was not exactly my kind of fun. But, I needed to attend because I was a new student. Besides, the Director of our Department texted me and called me to attend. I had no choice!

There were around 2,000 Graduate School students at PUP. That’s a lot. I also learned that the government subsidizes about P10,000 each year for each graduate school student. Wow! That’s a lot!

I see a lot of potential in the Graduate School. With this, I can upgrade my potentials and enlarge my social networks. Tomorrow, I will go to class and start learning about Communications and its implications in our lives and our society.