I don’t talk too much about school here but it’s a huge part of my life right now and for the past few years. I am a mere 6 weeks away from graduating with my MBA (Masters in Business Administration) after 3ish years of hard work.

This journey started in late summer of 2010. At the tender age of 25 I knew I had a toxic job and saw what my future at the company held for me (in short, nothing). The company culture and management style didn’t fit with where I wanted my career to go. I was at a loss of what I actually wanted my career to look like (clearly, I was 25) so I decided to go back to school.

In true Emily form, I signed up for a couple classes in the MBA curriculum just days before they began. My first two classes: Economics and Accounting. Talk about jumping in with two feet!

I was able to take up to 9 credits (3 classes) before I made the decision to matriculate. At this point I was almost a year in so why not go for it. I applied, got accepted, met with an advisor to create a plan of study and away I went.

After my first Marketing class (way back in 2011) I knew this is where I wanted to focus. I loved building marketing plans, learning about consumer behavior and figuring out how the digital world fit in with older marketing standards.

Iv’e worked my butt off taking a full-time course load while working full-time in order to finish as quickly as I could. I did take the fall 2013 semester off (much needed but mostly do to scheduling) but I took numerous summer and winter courses to earn the time off.

So now…here I am just 6 weeks away from graduating and getting my normal life back. But, what is my normal life? I have always either worked two jobs or worked and gone to school. What is my next step? Do I start job searching? Do I beg my currant company to make a new position for me? I have no idea and will have to use the next six weeks to give some serious thought to it.

Although I have a lot of unanswered questions, I couldn’t be more excited to be finishing this chapter of my life!