Advice at the Beginning of a Journey

So I'm not quite at the pursuing-a-doctorate-degree level yet, but Mark Wagner, Ph.D. gives some great advice for an Ed Tech Newbie (like me) on his blog post this week on his "Educational Technology and Life" blog.  He was responding to an e-mail from someone pursuing a Doctorate Degree in Educational Technology.  Some of the phrases that stuck out to me were:

"Research something you are passionate about."

"At the start [...] you don't know what you don't know."

"Any program is only as good as you make it."

These out-of-context phrases meant a lot in his e-mail to that student, but they also mean a lot to me as I am still at the beginning stages of this journey.

"Research something you are passionate about."  - I have found that in this first two semesters of Pace's Educational Technology Specialist Masters Program, I have really found my passion.  Never before had I desperately wanted to learn, read, tweet, and blog about something in education.

After watching The Road to Nowhere (see my last blog), I got on the phone with my mother to ask her some questions about my childhood and all she had done to protect me throughout my educational career.  We got to talking about how with this new surge of technology, there are so many who want to become Luddites - working to destroy the technology, instead of embracing it.  In the end, we agreed that technology should be integrated into classroom lessons.  But more so, we need need to teach effective uses of these technologies, so the benefits will far outweigh the negative aspects of technology.  It became so heated at some points - something I can only attribute to my passion.

"At the start [...] you don't know what you don't know." - Once I began this course in particular, I didn't know that I didn't know a thing about wikis past using Wikipedia.  I also didn't know that I didn't know what an augmented reality was.  There is so much to learn that it can at times become overwhelming, but I absolutely love it!

"Any program is only as good as you make it." - I certainly learned this in my undergraduate work at St. Thomas Aquinas College.  I was able to become involved to a ridiculous level, but it certainly made my experience.  I think this is absolutely relevant to my coursework so far in the Master's Program because I am truly making my learning my own with the online courses I have taken so far.  I am reaching out past the material presented to me (with the help of the material, of course) and exploring my passion.

Thanks to Mr. Wagner for his wonderful advice!  Maybe I'll look into Walden University when I am at that pursuing-a-doctorate-degree level. :-)

So as to use my previous advice: What do you think makes a good educational program?  Did any of the phrases in Mr. Wagner's advice mean anything to you? What is your passion and how did you discover it? I look forward to hearing your responses!