A Safe Place to Fall - Adam Morrow (Guest Blogger)

I am constantly amazed by the wonderful GSE cohort! All of them have brought in their diverse experiences and all are very supportive of one another. Adam Morrow, one of my cohort has graciously volunteered to blog about his experiences at Penn. Hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to leave any comments.

Brief bio. of Adam Morrow:
Adam Morrow is from Etowah, Tennessee and is currently enrolled full-time in the Higher Education Administration M.S.Ed. program at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a graduate assistant in Development and Alumni Relations for School and Center Annual Giving. He can be reached at amorrow@gse.upenn.edu.

A Safe Place to Fall

        Confession: I cannot fully remember one of the most memorable days of my life. I am aware of where I was, what I was doing, and what ultimately happened during this particular experience. However, there is a time frame of about five seconds that I do NOT remember. This moment-- this five seconds of which I still wonder today, “What in the world was I thinking?!--is important because it was the impetus for what was one of the most daring, crazy, and fulfilling adventures in my life. It was in that five seconds that I could have made the executive decision to quit what I was doing, end this madness, and return to the comforts of normal life. But I didn’t stop. I jumped.

        My first four weeks in the M.S.Ed. program in Higher Education Administration here at Penn, remind me of my first time tandem skydiving. Coming to Penn was a risk for me. I knew that living in a big city for the first time and enrolling in a highly-rigorous program after a year out of school would present a challenge, that without careful effort and attention to detail, I could fail. However, after making that leap, I have quickly discovered what an amazing experience this is. Here at Penn I encounter professionals at my graduate assistantship that are at the top of their games, learn from professors who are leading voices in their respective fields, and commune with my cohorts who are the some of the most brilliant people I have ever met. I love this, and the best part of it is that this ride isn’t even close to being over. I’m still in the air, free falling like Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

        Of course, like skydiving, there are moments that are more tense and stressful than others, and the potential for complete disaster is a legitimate reality. The demands of the coursework is so overwhelming at times that it pushes me to my breaking point at which I feel like giving up. In a lot of ways, the rigor of this program becomes the classic case of paralysis by analysis; the more you look at what all needs to be done, the more daunting of a task it seems to be. When I feel myself coming close to hitting a mental wall, I have learned that it is best in those moments to put my head down, keep working, and run straight through the wall without hesitation and without stopping. Many times, what keeps me motivated is simply knowing that I’m not alone in this journey. The people in my cohort, who I am thankful to call my friends, are full of intellect and talent and are also some of the most caring and compassionate people I’ve ever met. They inspire me each day to give my best effort because I know that they are giving their best efforts as well.

        In the next five, ten, and twenty years, when you survey the landscape of higher education, look for these people. Look at the research they will be doing. Look at the places they will be going. Look at the lives they will be touching. Not everyone in this cohort will make the front page of the Chronicle of Higher Education or have articles published in their names, but whatever they are doing in their careers, I promise you something: they will be making a difference in the lives of students.

        I think of my professors as the skydiving instructor, who with years of expertise and training, are directing me in the ways in which I need to go. The honest insights and critical analysis of the academic enterprise that these men and women provide in each class makes me feel prepared to immediately step into higher education world after I graduate. The people in my cohort...they are the parachute keeping me from crashing to the ground. They save me from academic disaster when I completely misunderstand things in class, mental disaster when the stress of life starts wearing me down, and social disaster by encouraging me to go out and have fun when I become a bit too obsessive with school. As for me, I am going to keep jumping. I am going to keep challenging and pushing myself. I want to maximize each and every opportunity I have at this place to the fullest. Grad school is hard, but it’s so much fun. And I love it.