Master's Student Chun-Ju Chen Shares Experience in Graduate Program

My name is Chun-Ju Chen, and I am from Taiwan. I was an English major as an

undergraduate. I found my passion for education from some of my teaching and

research experiences, so I changed my major when I decided to study abroad for


I planned to go to school in San Diego because my husband goes to UCSD, so I

searched for other universities that provide programs in education. SDSU is the best

university that offers rich educational programs in San Diego. Therefore, I applied for

this program, and luckily I was admitted! The process of application was very simple.

First you need to prepare some documents like transcripts, recommendation letters,

statement of purpose, etc. Just check the SDSU website and it will tell you everything

you need to prepare. Then you need to finish the online application and pay the

application fee. That’s it! After you are done, just wait and see if you are admitted.


I really had a great time in the program. I especially like the classes on development

and classes that require students to do internship. Just like I said I was an English major

and I had no background in child development, so Dr. Ritblatt suggested that I could

take an undergraduate level class on human development in the beginning, which was

CFD 270. CFD 270 was a very important class for me because that class gave me a

clear idea of what happens to a human being at different age periods. CFD 670 was

also very inspiring. It was also a development class but it went deeper with theories on

psychology, sociology, and education. Most important of all, it taught me to think about

how to practice these theories in education. I also enjoyed CFD 590, CFD 578, and

CFD 597. These classes gave me great opportunities to get to know what education

really is and chances to work with different people at different sites. For example, I was

doing my internship at the SDSU Children’s Center for one semester, and the next

semester after that I was hired as an assistant teacher!


For my final project, I will build a webpage that is linked to the SDSU Children’s Center

website. The purpose of the page is to inform parents the benefits of shared book

reading, and provide strategies that help parents read to their children more effectively.

In my future, I plan to continue working with children because that is my passion. The

various master’s courses provided gave me with knowledge to work in the field, and the

internship opportunities enabled me to know this industry better and get prepared for

my future job. What’s more, the faculty here are very nice and always happy to help,

and that gave me a very good model of what an educator should be like. I am sure this

is the place you should come if you have a passion for education, and you will have a

wonderful time like I have.