Let us introduce you to Elise Ann, a second-year MAERES student. She is an alumna of the University of Florida, where she received her B.A. in Political Science and Spanish with a minor in Russian and International Relations. She is interested in Russian history, Russian language, its culture and arts, and the way these feed into policy making decisions. In addition to being a full-time MAERES student, she is a working mom. In this interview, she shared with us her experience studying at CERES and how she has balanced her study, work, and family life.
Thank you for agreeing to have this interview with us. Let’s start with your study here at CERES.
My studies at CERES have been heavily security focused. I really love the security aspect, but I also love being able to bring in the different areas of focus that CERES allows for its students, like the humanitarian side, historical side, economics side, and the anthropological side. I think I am a well-rounded student, but security is definitely one of my favorite things to study. And specifically, contouring violent extremism is one of my favorite topics.
What do you plan to do with this MA degree?
At the beginning of the program, I was really targeting overseas jobs within the Intel Community or within a government agency that allows me to utilize the language skills and security skills I got at Georgetown. But as a family, we really had to kind of evaluate that and think, okay, is living overseas something that we really want to do as a family? And the answer is no. We actually built a beautiful home…and so, you know, those goals have shifted a little bit. So now, kind of looking domestically, I would still love to work within government agencies or programs here that focus on this region.
The question that I think many of us are curious about is: how do you balance all these components of your life (working full-time, being a mother, and being a full-time student)? How do you manage all these?
You know, people say to me all the time like “Oh my gosh!” and “Wow!” [when they hear about all I’m juggling]. But I think that, you know, to be completely honest, it is not something that I would recommend others doing. I am not going to just sit here and say, “Yes, you should work full-time, be a mom of two, go to grad school full-time, maintain a healthy relationship with your husband, build a house, and move.” That is not something that I would recommend for anybody to do. I think it is very important to know your limits, but I did not know my limits before coming into this program. Though, in a very positive way, this program has really forced me to make sure and understand to prioritize where I am spending my time.
Do you have any recommendations for others who are in similar positions as you and want to pursue an MA at CERES?
Formal recommendation would just be to know your limits and know yourself. I think that had I known what I was going through was postpartum anxiety [after the birth of my son], then maybe grad school was not the right answer. I did not know it at the time. Right at the time around when I should have been diagnosed, the pandemic started, and nobody was meeting anybody, no therapists, no doctors. We were just trying to figure out what was going on with me, and because so many things were going on, we thought it was probably just because of all the things going on. Had I gone through the appropriate diagnosis at the right point of time prior to starting at Georgetown, then I should have known that it was probably not the right time for grad school. However, because I did it anyway, I get to say that I did it, and that is an incredible feeling, and it is a massive accomplishment, but I would just say know your limits because I pushed mine… I really pushed my limits, my mental health limits, my family limits, all my limits.
Georgetown has been so encouraging, and they have been super supportive of me, my family, what we were doing, and the craziness that is my life. I think what you are going into is an awesome place. Just know yourself, know your limits. No matter whatever is in your life, if you are within the CERES program, they are going to make you feel welcome and cared for. They are going to support you through. So, if you are coming in as a working mom or someone who has other things going on in your life, they will make it happen for you; if you want to do it, they will make it happen, and they made it happen for me. It has been a very long two years for me and my family just with other stuff going on, but that’s not reflective of what Georgetown has enabled me to do.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)