Mrs. Dudkiewicz, a science teacher from Fond du Lac High School, studies at Mississippi State University for her master’s degree in Geosciences with a Concentration in Environmental Geosciences.

Dudkiewicz loves environmental sciences and started to teach the subject when she lived in Florida. Following her teaching, she grew a passion for it. “I fell in this major that kind of combines both my passions,” she said.

She started her first year of college back in 2011. In 2013 she got her associate’s degree. She continued on her path right after for three semesters to 2016, when she got her bachelor’s degree.

After working a full-time job in Florida with fish and wildlife for about two and a half years, Dudkiewicz decided to go back to college in 2018. Having to take 21 credits, roughly seven to eight classes, she got her teaching degree in early 2020.

Dudkiewicz then started college again in 2022 and is expected to graduate with one class per semester in the summer of 2025.

Dudkiewicz works on her college work whenever she’s able to. She spends half her lunch or the whole time working on college. She doesn’t work on her college work as much in school. She likes to do it on the weekends and outside of school.

“I like to do my work during the weekends because I don’t have to go from teaching to working with college,” she said.

On the weekends, she will typically work when she can, that’s usually when her kids go to sleep. With a semi-recent baby, it has been more difficult for her than when she was pregnant. When her husband is home and can take the kids, she can fit in more work time on her college work.

With her master’s degree, she can then teach certain level college classes. Once she gets her master’s degree, she has the opportunity to adjunct part-time at a college and teach lower-level college classes.

However, Dudkiewicz wants to eventually teach Curriculum Advising and Program Planning classes at the high school. She prefers CAPP as she thinks it’s a better class than Advanced Placement. Her wanting to teach CAPP classes here is her motivation for getting her degree right now.

Her advice to people who would like to go to college while having a full-time job is time management. “Time management is a skill that is definitely required when it comes to trying to multitask between working 40 to 50 hours full time and then going into a master’s program,” she said.

You have to give up some of the things you enjoy doing to be able to make time for college and work but also dedicate a time where you can work on your classes.

“So you have to be very passionate about it,” she said. “You have to want to do it. Don’t just do it because you think it’s cool,” she said.