Truly, I am not as frustrated as it seems. I unfortunately have been responding while under the weather, so I have a tendency to be curt. My apologies. My career choices are mine and my husbands, leaving the area to pursue this choice is not possible as I am not the sole bread winner and like you, we fall into a tax bracket that is limiting to us at tax time. Never enough but too much. I have made a decision to pursue this career and I am working with my advisor, my committee, and my work supervisor to create ways to add to studies. Example: I am taking a course called "working in historical institutions" and I actually work in a historical institution, so I keep track of my reading material, keep a journal of what I do, write a paper about what I am doing during this period of time and my experiences give me college credit, and does not interfere with my work schedule. I am working with these people on creating a conservation lab for credit since one is not offered as part of the required courses for the certificate. I discussed with my supervisor the possibility of joining forces with other organizations in our area to provide lectures and workshops. He is agreeable, so we are creating a list of all the organizations in our area and we will be sending a letter out within the next two weeks. As a nontraditional student some choices are made for me, so I have been creative. The university offers courses in public admin, nonprofit management, and courses within respective fields of interest (like the history course I am taking now) that I am pulling together. I am hoping that by the time I am done, it will set a precedence for a master's in museum studies. The university would be able to offer a minor, a certificate and a graduate level degree. This is a portion of my plan of attack. Shawn ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).