Original Goals

As a full-time working mother and wife, it was difficult to decide to further my education while managing household chores and roles that were non-negotiable. Women academics are inundated with service while serving as the primary caregiver to their children (Guy et al., 2020). It seemed unfair to blend my priorities as a mother, employee, and academic scholar in a competitive manner. The identities and roles in my life should exist and coincide harmoniously. This has created a paradox within working mothers who are actively pursuing academics. Continuing to strive for balance and sense of grounded-ness through chaos is key to managing the working mother’s academics (Guy et al., 2020). Upon entering the program, I set a goal that I would effectively manage personal, professional, and academic boundaries while pursuing my education. My goal was to allocate specific hours each week for personal, professional, and academic tasks. I would communicate my schedule and tasks with family, friends, athletes, and colleagues so they would understand and respect the time-sensitive boundaries required to be successful that week. I would re-evaluate and determine new boundaries each week and continue the cycle throughout the semester.

Another educational goal I set entering the program reflected my character traits of overachieving and exceling. I have always had a strong desire to maintain success and academic achievement as a high performer. High performers surpass their peers, exceed expectations, and are self-driven, yet they set healthy boundaries and realistic expectations (Guidry et al., 2022). As a high performer, I set a goal that I would maintain all A’s and a 4.0 GPA. My goal was to review assignment requirements and edit all assignments prior to submitting to ensure accuracy. I would submit all assignments and papers on or before the due date. Lastly, I would actively communicate with all professors to ensure my success. It was my hope, and goal, that completing these tasks would earn an A for the course and result in an overall GPA of 4.0.

Shift in Goals

After research and reflection, my goals slightly shifted throughout the course of the graduate program. As a whole, the goals have remained the same, but through experience and new knowledge the goals have changed to reflect my progression and understanding. My first goal required me to set aside specific time to create boundaries to manage all of my tasks in the roles I serve on a daily basis. However, I realized that life is not rigid and cannot be planned for each hour. It is necessary to create balance through flexibility and adaptability. For example, I may have set aside Thursday evening to work on graduate school, but my daughter came home with unexpected homework that needed my attention. My goals need to be adjusted as priorities change. Research suggests that multitasking is necessary when rigid schedules require flexibility (Guy et al., 2020). Multitasking is possible with parallel processing, where tasks involve different parts of my brain, making it manageable which reduces burnout (Guy et al., 2020). I can research scholarly articles about communication while also assisting my daughter on multiplying fractions. I still use the foundation of my goal of setting healthy personal, professional, and academic boundaries, but I anticipate the need for flexibility which can be achieved by multitasking.   

            Once I gained additional understanding, I realized my last goal of maintaining all A’s resulting in a 4.0 GPA is a goal for overachievers, not high performers. I personally identify with the high-performer’s character traits rather than overachievers. Overachievers are focused on attaining success but are never satisfied no matter how much they achieve through “workaholic” qualities (Guidry et al., 2022). Looking back, I understand now that this goal reflects a stronger desire to achieve numerical success rather than knowledge. This is something I try to teach my current students and athletes. Grade gratification means nothing unless you possess the knowledge and growth long-term that resulted in that grade. One change needed to amend this goal is the constant desire to achieve perfection. I need to be prepared to be vulnerable to any insecurities I have about failure or performing poorly (Guidry et al., 2022). I recognize now that self-acceptance develops an authentic value of myself that is not dependent on any outcomes (Guidry et al., 2022). I can be successful in graduate school without maintaining and achieving A’s in every course. My new goal is to achieve academic success by demonstrating growth throughout each course and graduating with my Specialist Degree to enhance my coaching.