I entered the MAED program at Michigan State University, with the objective of increasing my future salary, thinking very little of how it might affect my own sense of self-worth. Truthfully, I did not even know the name of the program that I would be entering. Over the course of the program, however, I realized how much I still enjoy learning, as well as meta-cognitive learning. The program forged a dramatic change in myself, and in the future I intend to continue the lifelong learning process that the course values instilled in me. My outlook on, not only education, but life as well, is much more positive and informative. Thus, I feel that I have grown immensely.​

My first priority in this process, is to formalize my Chinese education. I started learning Chinese in my senior year at MSU, because I was looking at doing graduate studies in Chinese history, and felt that learning the language would be beneficial to me. This one year of Chinese gave me a great foundation for the language. The pronunciation, basic grammar, and root characters were all greatly instilled in me. Yet, much like my Spanish, I was unable to communicate effectively, and needed a more direct method of learning. So, after graduation I decided to move to China, from which the process changed from a teacher-student relationship to one of self-learning.​

I have always been good at learning things on my own, but I never applied this concept to a language before. In the course of five years in China, I have increased my spoken vocabulary from a couple hundred words to over six thousand words, while also being able to read over three thousand characters. Yet, I feel that I have come to the point, in which my learning has stalled. Consequently, I am planning on attending Zhejiang University this fall to study Chinese. It will be difficult, because I have to drive an hour three times a week to get to the school. The rewards, though, will be more than worth the effort. A better understanding of the language will allow me to become a more integrated member of Chinese society. At the same time, it will hopefully allow me to be a better teacher for my students.​

My second priority will be to get my administrator’s license. It will be very difficult to attain this license if I stay in China, because there are no online options. That means I would most likely have to return home to America for a year to get the license. I do not see myself doing that this year, nor do I necessarily need the certification here in China to attain a position. It is very likely that I will be named the principal at my current school, either next year or the year after. Combining all of these factors, I feel that it is not the right time to get the license.​

However, there are three reasons why I feel that I should get the license, and all of them are of an extrinsic nature. First, being a licensed administrator will obviously increase my salary. Second, and more importantly, the license will give me a sense of prestige to other principals. Qualified principals often look down upon non-qualified principals here. In China, 面子, or keeping one’s face, is much more important than in America. Third, eventually, before my child reaches high school, my fiancee and I plan on moving back to America. At that point, I would need a license for an American high school. Altogether, it would seem like a good idea for me to get the license, but I have not decided when or how at this point.​

My third priority, is not actually a priority, but rather an interest. I have always loved video games, since I first started playing them when I was five years old. To say they have influenced my thinking would be an understatement. Combine this love, with my recent interest in writing, and I have a tremendous desire to create video games that are designed and written by myself. While the latter is easily achievable with my current abilities, the former is not. Therefore, at some point, either here in China, or online, I would like to attain a technology degree in video-game design. I think game design would be an excellent choice for online study, so that might be my best choice.​

I would like to create video games that are more life-like, with a great story that will more completely immerse the player. Additionally, if the story is good enough, the video game could be made into a movie. For me, this is the future of entertainment.  While this might sound like fantasy, it would be intrinsically motivating for me, and something that I would do for fun. However, even if I got good at creating video games, I would not quit my day job. With the ability to teach English, history, geography, SAT, TOEFL, and video-game design, I would be well positioned to teach in the future.​

Ultimately, a good educator thinks about others, before himself. This concept really hit hard with me this semester. While I enjoy the benefits that come along with the increased knowledge and rank, in the end, what we teach our students is the most important. In the future, if I can do something to make my teaching or administrating better, I will do it. That means I am making a commitment to be a lifelong learner, and it does not matter if this is online or in a brick and mortar classroom. I can find time to relax when I am retired. If I do retire at all...