My Norwich University Experience

My Final Post to the Norwich Blog

2009-06-28T22:47:00Z

Today marks the end of my postings on the Norwich University blog at eLearners. In the next few days, I will begin my new blog that will focus on my next “adventure in education” as I earn my Doctor of Business Administration at Walden University. I have already enrolled and begin classes on June 29. As I write this, that is a mere six hours away. Even though I have not done any work, there is already a lot to write.

I want to close out this final post on my Norwich blog with the following statement:

When I decided to go to graduate school, the word “Norwich” had never crossed my mind or my lips. Living a few thousand miles away from Vermont, I believe that I have a valid excuse. I already had my choice of schools narrowed down to three and Norwich was not one of them.

Then I received an email informing be about Norwich. After doing some investigating, I signed up for the MBA program. Being a school that was nearly 200 years old, I knew the education I would receive would be of high quality. I was not disappointed. The 18 months I spent in that program was more challenging than four years of undergraduate work. Moreover, the residency program at the end was an event that made it all worth it.

During this adventure, I met some of the most interesting people and learned things that I do not know that I would have been exposed to at another institution. Everyone on the faculty, administration, student body and ever nook and cranny of Norwich has been a pleasure to work with.

The visit to Vermont was something I will never forget! I have lived in the city and in the country. I have seen mountains and desert. Nevertheless, I can honestly say that Vermont is unique in a way that I cannot explain. It is a beautiful, humble place that I will visit in the future.

Now I am on to other challenges. Of the three schools I will have attended when I graduate with my D.B.A., I will only wear the Norwich ring. I will look back at Norwich as my most memorable experience.

Norwich Forever!

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My Norwich GPA

2009-06-25T15:56:00Z

I was fortunate enough to find out what my final GPA was for the Norwich MBA program! It was not stellar, but certainly not bad, either. I earned a 3.36 GPA throughout the entire program. That is a borderline B+ / A- and from what I hear, is about average for most students. That equates to around an 84% - 85%. I was hoping for a low A, but it was not to be. The program was challenging and I knew that earning an “A” with the other responsibilities in life (working full time, family, etc.) was going to derail that.

What does this GPA mean to me? It means I will not be going to MIT or Harvard. Nevertheless, I am OK with that. What I am planning on doing, after several months of research on a quality doctoral program, is to enroll in Walden University. I am aiming at the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program.

I spent most of the last few days on the phone with representatives from several schools and this one seems like the best one for me. I do not foresee any problems getting into Walden, but like strategic planning in business, the smart person will have a “Plan B”. My “Plan B” is the PhD program at Capella University. But I am well on my way to fulfilling my entrance requirements at Walden.

I got an unofficial copy of my transcripts sent from Norwich. They did that very quickly and I do appreciate it. The time constraints here are short. I filled out the online application over the weekend. Next, I will send them my resume and a letter that explains why I want to be in the program. I will get that done in the next day or so. The program starts in a week or so. I have no time to waste.

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Narrowed Down to Two

2009-06-19T05:47:00Z

It has only been a week since I walked across the stage and received my diploma from Norwich University. In that short time, I am itching to get back in the game. I said in my last post that I would have a decision about the next step in my journey soon. But it will not be in this post, unfortunately.

I spent the better part of the day looking at my options. After weeding out a lot of those, I have narrowed them down to the D.B.A. (Doctor of Business Administration) from Walden University and the M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.

I spent a lot of time on the phone today with the nice folks at Capella University and Walden. I got a lot of information about the programs. I really think that I have completely abandoned the PhD idea. The cost (no matter where you go) is huge. On top of that, I am looking at another four years to complete it. While I do want to go back to school, I do not want to do four more years. Three is my maximum at this point.

Both the D.B.A. from Walden and the M.A. from Gonzaga both have objectives that really appeal to me in a big way. Moreover, the Walden option has textbooks built into the cost. I know that seems somewhat trivial to some, but knowing that I do not have to go purchase books on my own is a big plus. That is the way it was at Kaplan and Norwich. It is what I am used to.

I will be making a decision by Monday. I believe both programs have start dates that grow closer by the day. I do not recall the research and decisions about my MBA being this difficult. But maybe I have a short memory.

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Back Home Safe and Sound (PHOTOS!!!)

2009-06-16T19:59:00Z

I am home at last. After a very exciting week at Norwich, we received our diplomas Friday morning. It was a defining moment for everyone I talked to and probably for everyone there. In order to have some free time, I took an extra day and did not fly back to Texas until Saturday afternoon. I am glad I took the extra day.

With that extra time, I was able to visit downtown Montpelier (the state capital) and get some great photos. (The following photos were taken at the capitol building) SEE NORWICH PHOTOS HERE - There is a link to the whole gallery after the last photo

I flew from Burlington to Detroit. After some delays, I was finally on my way home. I arrived in Dallas at around 11pm. My promise to myself to read a book while I was gone was delayed by a week because of all the activities at school. But on the way home, I was able to read “A Class With Drucker”. For anyone who is interested in the father of modern management, I would highly suggest this book.

I must say that one does not often appreciate the very nice climate until they are exposed to the opposite extreme. When I walked out of the Dallas airport to catch a bus to the parking lot, I thought my face was going to melt off.

It was a miserable change from the pristine atmosphere of Vermont. At 11:30pm, it was still 90 degrees. In my whole time in Vermont, it only got into the low 70-degree range with low humidity. I was dying and wishing I was back in Vermont. Or maybe the North Pole. Or perhaps Canada. I wanted to be anywhere but Texas.

Alas I am stuck.

But the good news is that I have decided what I am going to do in the next step of my educational journey. Read the next post for the details. I am filling out my FAFSA today.

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Norwich Residency Day 5

2009-06-12T02:40:00Z

It is the end of another long day. I did not write yesterday because by the time I got back to the dorms, I had just enough energy to shower and crawl into bed. They are indeed keeping us busy here. We are also eating like pigs. The cafeteria-style dining facility is great. I need to get one of those for the house. I am really surprised that I am not 500lbs by now. But I digress.

Yesterday, we took a tour of Rock of Ages. This is a company that mines granite and transforms it into many products. Do a Google search for more info on them. I took some great photos of the largest hole in the ground I have ever seen. I will post them next week. We also had some other events scheduled in the morning and in the evening. They were more for fun than any academic purpose. But a good time was had by all.

Today was graduation rehearsal day. We also attended a ceremony where we were hooded by the leadership at the school. It was a great moment. It was the next to last activity before graduation. That comes Friday morning. Everybody is anxious in anticipation of graduation. We are also ready to move on with life. We have all had a great time. Now we want to go do something with our degrees. Being part of the Norwich family and carrying on that tradition is important.

I have met a lot of great people here. I have enjoyed the scenery. It is like nothing else I have ever seen. It makes me want to come back at some point just to visit. I am also seriously considering taking a certificate course from Norwich so that I can obtain teaching credentials. But that is a discussion for another day.

Graduation comes early. Need to sleep!

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