Nearly Done - Thank You and Words of Encouragement

[Nukeme3]

I see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I'm ramping down with my final elective for the MBA at HAU and thought it would be worthwhile to jot a few words here for others to find. Firstly, a big thank you to everyone on this site who has taken the time to curate the lists, resources, and links to make finding higher education accessible and affordable. You're doing good work and making a small, positive impact in the world, and a huge positive impact on the lives of people who weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

For anyone who is thinking about starting a degree or finishing one you had to put on hold: You can do it. The hardest part is getting started (followed closely by any capstone thesis), but you can find the rhythm and reach those goals if you stay committed and focus on the assignments one week at a time.

I'm in a liminal state of euphoria because nearly 15 years ago, I tried to go the traditional brick-and-mortar route and ended up spending more in one year than my entire UoPeople BS and HAU MBA combined. And I wouldn't even say the education was any worse. Less hands-on, for sure, but it has opened doors and provided tools I use every day. As someone mid-career, I can comfortably say the checkboxes have been marked, and I feel prepared to use the knowledge gained in a practical setting. And what's best is I'm not saddled with debt for the next X-number of years!

In a few short weeks, I get to request graduation, take a well-deserved nap, and then figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I never thought I'd have a Master's degree. Maybe I'll collect some more letters after my name in the future.

[Jakehazex21]

Congratulations! These are encouraging words. I’ve just started the HAU MBA. What’s funny is that my associates degree cost more than all the other degrees combined. What did you find difficult and what worked for you during the program?

[alwayscurious]

Congratulations!

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Congratulations! These are encouraging words. I’ve just started the HAU MBA. What’s funny is that my associates degree cost more than all the other degrees combined. What did you find difficult and what worked for you during the program?

When I see my associates, I think the same thing too. To think that if I was armed with the knowledge that I have now, I could have saved so much time and money... and possibly have done more degrees as well.

[Nukeme3]

Congratulations! These are encouraging words. I’ve just started the HAU MBA. What’s funny is that my associates degree cost more than all the other degrees combined. What did you find difficult and what worked for you during the program?

Thanks, I can definitely say that I underestimated the workload requirement. My biggest challenge was managing time and mental bandwidth. Some particularly heavy load classes were:

Finance
Human Resource Management
Accounting
Operations Research
Capstone

If you can, try to plan these not to coincide with each other.

The capstone is effectively a deep research project into a real company, identify 3 major problems, and make 3 strategic recommendations based on your findings. It's about 40-60 pages double spaced fully complete. With this knowledge, it might be helpful to base other class research around the same common company, take notes, and spread your research over the full degree. That should help reduce stress rather than trying to cram it all in a 7 week course.

Also, if you have a problem or question, email your instructor or dean early. Response times are not that great. It is a small school and the online classes are sometimes secondary to the in-person classes. I've had to take several classes that were held in-person only, meaning I missed the lectures with no video recordings or opportunity to ask questions. If you are accustomed to synchronous learning and immediate feedback, this may be a challenge.