Going to School...

The other day someone asked me why I was bothering to get a masters degree when it is likely that at some point in my life I am going to be a stay at home mom. They implied that the effort I have spent on getting my education could have been better spent elsewhere.

This isn’t the first time I have gotten comments like this. Over the years lots of people have asked why I have bothered to go to school when eventually we hope to have children. People have implied that this decision to attend school after getting married (both as an undergrad and as a graduate student) was not a good one, and not in line with what I should have been doing.

These comments bother me, not just because people are inserting themselves into areas of my life that they actually don’t belong, or because of the implication that my decision to attend school, both as an undergrad and a graduate student, was made without careful deliberation, prayer, and fasting. As I listen to these comments, and hear from girls that have chosen not to attend school I am frustrated and I reflect on my decision to go to school.

I didn’t go to school for the letters after my name. I didn’t get to school for the recognition. I went to school for several reasons. I went to get an education, to me an education and a degree are different things. Going to college taught me more than the skills I will use in my future career, it taught me how to think critically, how to stretch my mind, and how to improve as a person. I went to college to prepare for the future. Assuming that life goes according to plan, Brian will always be around, he will always be able to provide for our family, and I will never have to get a job out of necessity, but life doesn’t always go according to plan. If something were to happen I am so grateful to know that I would be able to provide for our family. I think of my MPH as another insurance policy. I went to college to be a better wife and mother. I know this sounds ridiculous, but there are so many ways that my education has enriched my life, these things extend beyond understanding theories, mathematical equations, and being able to write term papers. I am sure that at some point my MPH will positively influence the lives of my children. I would hate to think that I had shortchanged them because I had chosen not to go. As a side note, children born to mothers with higher levels of education generally have better health outcomes, better academic performance, and lower levels of behavioral issues than children born to mothers with lower levels of education. Educated mothers are more likely to take their children in for well child visits, more likely to breastfeed, vaccinate, and spend time with their children on cognitive development that other mothers. Maternal education matters! (can you tell that this was part of my graduate project?).

As I think about these comments I am reminded of this quote, and it brings me comfort to know that at the end of the day I did what I was supposed to do whether or not people think I made the right choice. In the end, like most things, the choice was made within the “eternal triangle”, and I know it was the right one.

Be smart. You are all in school. Do not waste your time. This is a time of great opportunity that you will never have again as long as you live. Make the most of it right now. It is wonderfully challenging. It is hard, it is tough, isn’t it? But what a wonderful thing to go and learn of all the accumulated knowledge of all the centuries of time. Go on to college or whatever school, vocational school, whatever your choice is, but take advantage of every opportunity that you have because the Lord has laid upon you a mandate through revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith concerning not only spiritual learning but secular learning. Yours is the responsibility, and you can’t afford to waste your time. There is so much to learn. Be smart. Give it the very best that you have.- Gordon B. Hinckley