Regaining Control of My Education
Why Dropping Out of Grad School was One of The Smartest Decisions I’ve Made
Before attending BDW, I was a graduate student at CU Denver pursuing a dual degree in Urban Planning and Public Health. With an undergraduate degree in Environmental Design and Planning, I thought it was going to be a perfect fit. I was excited to combine my background in urban planning with public health and build a career focused on creating healthy communities where residents could live, work, and play.
However, my experiences in the first two semesters of these programs left me feeling frustrated and stuck. As a dual degree student, my elective credits were limited and I was required to take mostly “core” classes that were either repetitive of what I had learned in my undergraduate career or unrelated to where I wanted to focus my education within those fields. Meeting after meeting with advisors and deans from both colleges still left me feeling as though I lacked control of my own education.
I felt stuck and I knew I wanted more.
It was at this point—in a scramble of panic and frustration—that I found BDW. I was hesitant to apply because I had no coding experience. In fact, I didn’t even know what HTML, CSS, and JavaScript were…other than terms I had heard in reference to coding a website. Still feeling stuck with my current program, I emailed BDW to find out more.
Just the process of questioning the program I was currently attending was hard for me—because to me, it felt like defeat. I have never been one to “give up” easily — and I felt as though I was giving up on something that I had worked so hard at for so many years.
However, questioning and eventually deciding to leave my program was not me giving up, it was me taking control.
I knew I wanted more out of my education. I wanted a place where I could let my imagination wonder, question everything, and work collaboratively among my peers. I knew I wasn’t happy where I currently was. And so, I decided to do something about it!
All too often, we feel stuck or trapped. We must realize that we have the power to change this. We have the power to shape how we want our future to unfold. We can try new things, learn that we love them or hate them, and we can even fail.
Looking back, I am so happy that I did not let the feeling of defeat stand in my way of attending BDW. I am proud that I had the strength to “drop out” of one graduate program to attend BDW. Because, in doing so, I have regained control of my education and opened more doors than I ever knew possible for my future.
I am currently a student in BDW’s 50 week program. Learn more about the BDW program.
