I have been tentatively accepted into MAIS as a non-program student. Once my transcript arrives from the U of A, I'll be able to register for courses. This was the easy part. As I do intend to eventually become a program student, barring some unexpected and dramatic change in my life, I've begun to plot my path from here to where I think I want to be at the end of my degree.

It's a very loose path, partly because I'm still not 100% where I want to be at the end of the program and it may well change once I've got a few courses under my belt. That was certainly the case with my undergraduate degree. I had initially intended to major in political science. I quickly realized that I didn't enjoy the culture of political science (or at least what I interpreted as the culture of poli sci) and decided not to declare my major in that area. After wandering aimlessly around the university for a bit I decided on English and thoroughly enjoyed my education.

Now, I'm interested in something that, in some ways, feels like a new way of approaching political science. My interest lies in Community Studies. In particular, I am interested in exploring why people who are otherwise politically active and engaged in their communities don't vote. I'm also interested in perhaps working with non-profits or the government to develop policies that might help to change the situation, but that's for afterward.

For now, it's purely an academic interest. And it may well change.

Assuming that it's what I stick with, though, I've got a very loose outline of what my degree will look like. I've got a list of courses and even a rough order in which I'd like to take the first few of them (assuming that they are offered at times that line up with this rough plan). Now, the list is too long at the moment, so I'll have to purge a few classes, but it's coming along and I'm starting to feel like returning to university to pursue an advanced degree is a very worthwhile pursuit. (Actually, I've always felt that it was a worthwhile pursuit, it just wasn't really one that I'd envisioned for myself.)

There is one question sticking in my head at the moment, which I have put out on Twitter, and that is: did you take MAIS 601 as your first course? Why or why not.

I'm trying to decided whether I should jump right into the core courses or if I should do one or two other courses first and *then* jump into MAIS 601 and 602. I'm also unsure if I should take 602 immediately after 601 or if I should take something in between the two. These are questions for an academic advisor, I suppose, but I'm more interested in the student perspective than the advise from an advisor for the time being.

I'll likely consult with an advisor, but if you are/were a MAIS student, I'd love to read your response to my question(s).