Tracy Gifford M.A.

This past Sunday I had my commencement ceremony.

I never walked for my bachelors degree, so I thought this time I should, and I'm glad I did. Over the past two years I put in 300 plus hours in administration, wrote a thesis, and learned a ton about school leadership. I have to say my experience with Touro University was amazing.

I remember signing up with Touro at a new teacher conference in August. I wasn't sure what I wanted to get my masters degree in, but I knew I needed it. Your pay jumps up quickly with a masters degree (or at least it did before the massive budget crisis, who knows what will happen now). The funny thing about this district is that you can get your masters in basket weaving if you'd like and you will still get the same pay increase. So, when I decided to get my degree in Administration I got a lot of different reactions from my colleagues.

"You're going to the dark side huh?"

"People that go into administration early either don't like kids or aren't good at teaching."

"So... you want more money."

The sad part is, I've thought all these things in my head about previous administrators before too. And while, I just don't know if I will ever become a principal, who knows what my future holds, I do know that I've become a much better teacher because of the program. The program forced me out of the comfort zone of my classroom and made me see the much bigger picture, the school.

The first week of class we had to pick a school supervisor to monitor our hours and meet with us periodically. The first meeting with my principal, she made me NJHS advisor. I felt completely overwhelmed. It was my first year, I was still figuring out what I was going to teach the next day, and now I had to re-establish a club that I didn't really know anything about. I was in Student Council, so I ran with what I knew. In my first year we did a canned food drive, spent time with some folks at a retirement facility, sold holiday grams, threw together a talent show, put on a guitar hero contest, went to an NJHS conference and I met some amazing kids in the process.

I also got really good at collaborating with the other 7th grade history teacher. We worked great together. We came up with new lessons that included raps, virtually field trips, brought in guest speakers, came up with a layered curriculum, and so much more.

That year I won, "New Teacher of the Year," and I really don't think I would have done any of it without Touro pushing me to break out of my comfort zone. It was sort of like, you just don't know what potential you have until someone forces you to do it. It's when someone delegates you a task and you're not sure if you can handle it, but they tell you that you have to and you just do. It's very empowering. Not too mention, I met 11 great people along the way that were in my program. I was even caught talking smack about one of my professors in the bathroom by the professor!! So embarrassing!

Looking back now, as a stay at home mom, some might say it was a waste of time and money, but getting my masters degree really enriched my life.

Plus, I think I might be getting a pretty sweet graduation gift. Stay tuned!!

...and look how happy Siege is with his grandpa!