Back to School: An interview with Chris Hurley

According to many reports, the economic recession has motivated a growing number of people to going back to school and re-train in new career fields. Chris Hurley is one of these people. Hurley is in his late 20's, and works as a director at a local TV station. After several years working in television, however, he has returned to his alma mater, Westfield State College, to pursue a masters degree in education. I spoke with Chris about his decision to go back to school, and about what it is like to balance his education with a full-time job.

Q: Why did you decide to go back to school?
A: “Obviously, I wanted to go back to school, because more than anything I wanted to go into teaching. I decided that I wanted to go into that because I enjoyed teaching other people in my job at the station, and I decided that that was what I wanted to do with my life.”

Q: How long do you plan on going to classes before you get your degree?
A: “I am hoping to be doing this for three years to get my masters degree. I hope to be teaching before then.”

Q: What kind of teaching do you want to do?
A: “I want to go into elementary education; I want to be teaching 5th or 6th grade general education.”

Q: How are you balancing a full-time job with taking classes?
A: “For this semester, I only took one class, so I can focus on taking the test I need to take to be licensed, before I progress with the rest of the program, but I am trying to get these preliminary things done first so I can get into teaching.”

Q: Did you foresee yourself becoming a teacher years ago?
A: “I actually did. Teaching was one of the things I was debating about when I went to school in the first place, along with communications and legal studies. Communications eventually won out, but teaching never left my scopes, and as I said, I was always teaching people as a trainer though at work.”

Q: What do you think that changes in the economy will have to do with your ability to take these classes?
A: “It depends on what they are going to be doing for financial aid, because financial aid is helping me take these classes. If the school system I work for can assist me, I won’t need to worry as much about getting a Stafford Loan. It depends on how much people are willing to give out for financial aid.”

Q: Have you had to make any sacrifices to further your education?
A: “I did, because I had to give up a part-time job, which helped me get enough money to go to school in the first place. So I am losing money either way. But hopefully, I am moving into something that is universally needed, and that is not disposable. Teachers are always needed, regardless of changes in technology or in the economy.”

Q: Are you concerned about possible tuition and fee hikes?
A: “So far I haven’t been, because Westfield State is one of the most reasonably-priced around here. UMass can be expensive, and their tuition has gone up, but then Westfield is known as a teaching school, and it’s inexpensive, so I win both ways.”

To read more about people going back to school in this tough economy, read the following article from CNN: http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/27/news/economy/job_retraining