Daniela Milinkovich: There were a few reasons for choosing to take the program part-time versus full-time.  The largest reason is that I have a full-time job that takes up a lot of my time.  I wanted to keep my job as long as possible during the career transition so that I can save enough money to help pay my bills while I’m student teaching.  Also upon entering the program, a new requirement came up.  In addition to the Master’s coursework, I have to take four additional undergraduate upper-level art courses sometime throughout the program.  Taking both of these factors into consideration, the part-time program has allowed me to save up more money and fit in the additional courses.  So far, it’s been working out very well!

DM: I will say, for the most part, the program is running pretty smoothly.  The biggest “pro” of taking the part-time program is that I feel as though I can absorb the information better and take time to observe in more schools.  I often get the sense that my cohort felt like the full-time program was moving too quickly, and they sometimes had “information overload”.  With the part-time program, I feel as though I have time to digest what I’m learning.  I would say one of the cons is that sometimes I don’t feel as connected with my cohorts, because I’m somewhere in between both of them.  It would have been nice to graduate with the cohort that I began with.

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DM: The greatest benefit of being in two cohorts is that I’ve gotten to know some great people that I may not have had the opportunity to had I done the full-time program.  It has also been really great to see the different dynamics in both cohorts.  Each one is special in its own way.  I feel lucky to have made so many great connections and only hope to strengthen them as I complete the program.

DM: I have to say it has been challenging to juggle so many different things.  On the evenings I’m in class, I’m usually gone from 7:00am and not home until 9:00pm.  Many of my weekends are filled up with completing assignments for the coursework.  What really helps me to get through is to force myself to take time for me.  I enjoy working out and spending time with my friends and family.  Even though it’s not as often as I would like, I make time to keep those things in my life to give me a healthy balance.  Additionally, I try to create at least a few pieces of art on my breaks and when I have extra time.  It is really important to me to continue to be a practicing artist; I think it will only help me to be a better educator.

DM: I think that I’m getting a very similar experience as everyone else for the most part.

DM: As of right now, there is nothing that I would change about the part-time program.  If someone was in a similar situation as me, I would definitely recommend it.  I think that I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to take the program over three years instead of two, and I’m not sure that I could have completed the program financially if that was not an option.