Sacrifices

Lately I have spent much of my time reflecting about reward, punishment, justice, freedom, and determinism. I have had several opportunities--some good, some not so good--to apply these concepts to my everyday life.

One way I can clearly illustrate this is my pursuit of my graduate degree. Our graduate program is structured around classes that meet typically on weekends, 2-3 weekends per semester. As a Drake employee, I spend more than 40 hours every week sitting at a desk, constantly working on improving some of the systems, policies, and procedures that we employ. I long for the closing whistle at 4:30pm every Friday just so I can catch my breath.

On those weekends that I am scheduled to attend my graduate classes, the last place I want to be is in a classroom right across campus from my office. It's incredibly difficult to take off my employee hat and don my student hat after all the effort of a full work week.

Motivating myself to participate in such classes is a constant struggle. On my short walk across campus, I can't help but remind myself of all the things I'm having to give up to earn my degree. I could spend my evenings doing things that I should or want to be doing.

Soon I remember that earning a master's degree SHOULD be a challenge that requires me to make sacrifices. When I walk across that stage, do I want to look back at my experience as a walk in the park or a long battle? And Drake could not make it any easier to afford the degree, as it pays 100% of my tuition. I would be a fool not to take advantage of something like that.

This swirling of emotions reminds me of ethical concepts like reward, justice, freedom, and determinism.

I made a choice to pursue a master's degree; it was not caused by something out of my control.

I (hopefully) will be rewarded for my efforts when my journey is complete. All the sacrifices I make along the way give the reward meaning. After all, what sort of accomplishment would it be if Drake were to simply give away a master's degree to anybody who raised his or her hand?

Further, I have found a certain amount of justice in this as well. Drake gives all its employees an equal opportunity to enroll in classes without being responsible for the tuition. It is up to the employees to take advantage of it.

Those who consciously decide to take advantage of the opportunity must make sacrifices but are rewarded in the end.

Ethical concepts aside, what I have learned most is that it isn't the diploma that is meaningful to me. It's what I have learned in my pursuit of it.