Career shifts should excite us. It’s a welcome respite. Others though, find it a chance for ruminations. For the last four years, my intent to move to a faculty position has been a driving force why I took another master’s degree (I already hold a master’s degree in library and information science). Here in the Philippines, if you want a career at a government-owned university or college (which insider call SUCs – state universities and colleges), one entry level qualification is a master’s degree closely aligned to your bachelor’s degree. So, if one intends to teach at a Teacher Education institution, he or she needs a bachelor’s degree in Education plus a master’s degree in Education. Policy-makers call that vertical articulation.
Of course, it still gives me the thrill to march on the stage. A little boost on the ego as well to have another prefix added to my name, although I only limit using “Christian George Acevedo, LPT, RL, MLIS, MAT” strictly on official documents where my license and degrees are required, e.g. accreditation, quality assurance audits, and monitoring and evaluation.
Winning a government scholarship to pursue a second master’s degree was a windfall. I got partly covered up for my tuition with a comfortable stipend to go by. I go with the flow, seeing things and events as another page that I should turn, remembering the lessons from each page, but never dwelling far too long, or else I’ll miss out on the more beautiful stories waiting to unfold.
Three years is what it took me to finish the master’s degree that I needed to earn to get a faculty rank. One more year I’d have to wait. Now that I’m about to get it, I feel a little voice whispering, “Don’t you want to regret it?” Some new rules in civil service barred me from moving to a faculty position equivalent my present rank as a librarian. I know, I know. Financially, I’d lost a few thousand pesos a month…. Then getting promoted has gone more challenging now. I’ve heard some colleagues stepped a rank higher after a few years when in fact advancing before meant jumping from assistant to associate professor in a breeze. Quantum leap they say. But again, the government has tightened its standards to institutions whose faculty rush to get a PhD because it meant promotion.
I dread the thought of dragging myself to attend a Saturday class because I need the diploma to rise in ranks. So, no PhD for me now. I have higher regards for a post-graduate degree. I still see it as a sign of intellectual maturity and personal development above anything else. I guess I’m just being idealistic but wait til I get that well-coveted title and I’ll get back to you and tell you if I have really matured intellect-wise. For now, I’d relish in this feeling of uncertainty… of how I’d wade myself into the current that every faculty desires to dive in. Once upon a time, I was a solitary librarian hiding behind stacks of books… Now, I’m one of them, so let’s see where this gets us…
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