Comfort, comfort

So, the news is in: I cannot complete the MDIV and MTH degrees at the same time. You know that “sad clown” trombone noise? *waahh waahhhh waahhhhh* I kind of feel like someone should play that right now. I was upset when I first received this news, but have come to a comforting conclusion. I will not surrender my MA degree to complete an MDIV program, but will continue going through the motions of meeting with such-and-such persons in order to get back on track with the UCC’s “in care” process. It is true that an MDIV is required for ordination in the UCC, but the rest of the steps should be “doable” without having fulfilled such a degree. Why should I pursue this? I will complete my MTH degree at what I would call an unfortunate time of the year. This will be during December of 2010. And why would one call this an “unfortunate” time? This is a simple question: finding work in the middle of the year will be challenging – and PHD programs do not accept spring candidates (nearly all programs commence in the fall of 2011). So, I will likely end up stretching my MTH degree over four semesters instead of three. Let us be candid: many of the MDIV courses aren’t designed to be academic. I will likely spend the spring of 2011 taking core MDIV requirement classes at an upgraded credit level for the MTH degree. Why? I will find out about PHD/THD program acceptances during the spring of 2011. If I am not accepted to a program I will commence the surrendering of my MA degree, transfer the credits from my last semester as an MTH to my new MDIV program, and work towards completing an MDIV before the spring of 2012 (the next time that I will find out about PHD/THD admissions). That’s one way to make myself more marketable as a candidate, right? So, I am a bit ahead of myself, but it isn’t a bad thing to be prepared. I wish you a wonderful afternoon.

-Dan