I am now at the end of a two-year Graduate MEd program in Curriculum & Instruction, Concentration Instructional Design and Development. I am also coming up on the end of my second career. Earning my Graduate degree is more about self-satisfaction and a feeling of accomplishment than any career goals.

My greatest goal is retiring from full-time work and daily commuting. Most of my life has been spent focused on work, and I have decided this is my time to focus on recreation. My personal goals include learning how to fish, improving my kayak-paddling skills, and spending more time boating, hiking, and traveling for fun. I do recognize I need to keep mentally active by continuing to use my professional skills as long they are secondary to personal goals – and do not require daily commuting. Enforced, extended, working-at-home due to the on-going pandemic has only reinforced my desire to not spend hours each day driving to an office.

My career goals at this point in my life are about giving back to my community and sharing some of what I have learned. More than just sharing knowledge, I hope to inspire other people into overcoming self-imposed limitations and stretching into new accomplishments. Adult education is my planned vehicle for pursuing these career goals. My instructional design degree provides me the tools.

Over the duration of this graduate program my goals for working in adult education have become focused on the area of vocational training. This is as much a result of my own background as it is a recognition that far too many younger people simply do not understand the joy of building things. I plan to build adult training programs in the areas of:

1. Vocational and career development courses focused on adults who, for whatever reason, did not gain much from their K-12 education and are looking to improve their job prospects. This includes people whose native language is not English, and people with mild learning difficulties.

2. Military Logistics training. This is the field I have worked in for the past twenty-four years, and I have become a recognized subject-matter expert among my peers. The few training programs available for military logistics are at the level of program management and policy, leaving a large need for vocational-level training. I hope to develop training programs focused on job performance skills needed throughout the logistics industry.