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The scenario is all too familiar. You work hard at your job. You get your paycheck. You pay your rent, your gas bill, your electric bill, and, of course, your cable bill. In shock, you squint at the meager handful of change left over. And you haven’t even bought dinner yet. Then you start planning to take more overtime to make ends meet. You will continue to repeat this sequence every month indefinitely. This scenario is referred to affectionately as “The Rat Race” and too many of us are stuck in it.

Enough is enough. Today is the day you start planning your escape from the Rat Race. Let’s take a look at your options. Stage an elaborate bank heist and make off with millions to a Caribbean island free of extradition laws? Not recommended. Keep sinking your pocket change into the lottery? Not recommended- like any gambling, even wins have a way of balancing out over time in the establishment’s favor. Change your identity? Not recommended- this costs money, which you don’t have. In fact, let’s say that any options that are illegal or rely on insane odds are off the table. You want something legit and long-term. Something that increases your income and/or decreases your expenses.

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I recommend (cue trumpets) EDUCATION!!! DEGREES!!! CERTIFICATES!!! (And I just exceeded my exclamation point quota for the month) Sure, going back to school is tough. You have to get used to reading textbooks, doing homework, taking notes, all that fun stuff, again. But think about the advantages. Higher degrees make you more marketable for better jobs. That means higher pay and higher likelihood of promotions. And that’s not just right out of school. Studies show that college degree holders earn far more than their GED-bearing counterparts, with the difference increasing with each passing year. They also experience the freedom to move upwards indefinitely at work while the others experience a glass ceiling sooner or later.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “I can barely make ends meet now; how am I going to pay for tuition, books, and all that other stuff?” The good news is, financial aid options are all around you. Scholarships exist for nearly every type of person you can think of- single mothers, left-handed people, military veterans, chess players, tall people, short people, science fiction fans, you name it. On top of those, the government is happy to help with Pell grants and low-interest loans. Often, employers will reimburse employees on school costs. With all these resources, money is not an issue.

If you’re worried about time constraints, schools offer full-time programs, night classes, and online classes that allow you to log on whenever you are available.

Education is your key to getting out of the Rat Race once and for all- your escape hatch, if you will. If you’re interested in learning about getting back into school, check out these convenient, nationally recognized programs. Have more questions? Check out these education articles and tips.

The American public has spent the last nine years bombarding Britney with criticism and ridicule. Then, recently, as she was carted away in an ambulance, we did an about face, and now everyone is offering to help. Dr. Phil tried to help, albeit clumsily. Heidi Klum offered to let her crash at her house. Justin and Timbaland are offering to help Brit rebuild her career. Everybody, it seems, wants in on the action. So why not you?

Do you want a piece of the save-Britney-from-herself pie? If so, you have two options: 1) get really famous and/or rich so the media cares about what you say (even though you really have no credibility) or 2) become a true expert in the following fields, charge onto the scene, and take care of business. Chances of achieving the first are minimal. So I recommend pursuing the latter. Brit will need help from the following types of professionals in the next few years:

1. Lawyer – Clients like Britney are a dream come true for lawyers: she’s always in trouble with the law and she has plenty of money to keep a lawyer working on her cases. In the last year alone, Britney has accumulated more than her fair share of legal woes.

Would you like to be the next in line to keep Britney out of the slammer? Consider a career in the law. Besides, if Britney ever straightens out her life, there will always be other screw-up celebrities to keep you employed. Classes and Careers can help you get off on the right foot with Legal and Paralegal Studies Degrees.

2. Psychiatrist – Having been groomed, enhanced, and told she wasn’t good enough and, simultaneously, she was the center of the universe since she was eleven years old, Britney has some deep-seated issues to work out. After the dust has settled from custody cases and drug rehab, Britney will still likely need psychiatric help.

Help lift Britney out of that deep, dark hole and become a psychiatrist. Exercise caution, however. Don’t, for instance, visit her at the emergency room and then, against all rules of patient confidentiality, relate to the press the graveness of Britney’s mental state. Find out more about how to become a Doctor in Psychology.

3. Rehab counselor – First things first, Britney needs to learn to just say no. You can be there for her by starting a career in rehab counseling. Teach Britney to pass on grass and all the other crazy stuff she’s been using and you will be a hero of the “Save Britney” community. Then we can all go back to mocking her without feeling guilty. All thanks to you! Find out what it takes to become a rehab counselor with a Master’s in Community Counseling.

4. Social worker – No, social workers don’t just take people’s kids away from them. They also take struggling parents under their wing and teach them how to be better moms and dads. As a social worker, you could teach Britney how to boil spaghetti noodles or make Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes- all the things she missed while she was being pushed to be a global superstar. How do you become a social worker? Social Sciences Degrees.

5. Parenting specialist – Social workers can only do so much. Parenting specialists teach parents how to teach, nurture, and discipline their kids appropriately. If you want to get those kids back from that lousy K-Fed, help Britney learn to be Mom of the Year. Find out how to become Britney’s parenting specialist by acquiring a Master’s in Marriage and Family Counseling.

We can all do our part to help Britney put her life back together. If you’ve got the desire, Classes and Careers can help.

Long ago, I was a rabid fan of the reality competition The Apprentice. In fact, I watched it for four straight seasons before I began to tire of the repetitive situations, whiny, immature contestants, and recycled soundtrack. When it first came out, professors at top MBA programs nationwide actually encouraged their students to tune in to the show. It was billed, after all, as a chance to learn business from the Donald himself. Sadly, it collapsed into catfights and unrealistic portrayals of life in business.

Last week, however, I found my interest piqued once again by the stale franchise. Why? Because, this time, well-known celebrities would be competing instead of shallow, one-dimensional corporate eager beavers. Players included Gene Simmons, a Playboy playmate, Alec Baldwin’s brother, and other fairly familiar faces. The playmate went down predictably in the first round, eaten alive by the toxic (and, I might add, overrated) Omarosa. With a gruff expression, Trump mumbled to his daughter about how the slaughter was necessary, just how business is. Kids, teens, and grown-ups considering business careers nodded their heads in acceptance. People who work in the business world scratched their heads, saying, "That’s never happened at my office."

Which brings me to my point: despite the presence of the undeniably successful Trump, the view that The Apprentice gives of corporate business is so far from reality that it is a disservice to those ignorant to the ways of the business world. The attitudes learned on The Apprentice can actually be detrimental and destructive to the individual and the organization that espouse them.

Catfights - Losing your cool, raising your voice, and making personal attacks on co-workers has become generally unacceptable in most companies. Furthermore, it just makes the attacker look undisciplined, unrefined, and immature. Yelling and screaming have disastrous effects on productivity, morale, and employee turnover. When employees are angry at each other, their interactions and cooperation are impeded, communication breaks down, and things don’t get done like they should. People don’t feel like coming to work or trying hard. Many workers leave the uncomfortable environment altogether, seeking jobs where they can feel at ease. These effects are expensive. Therefore, most companies go out of their way to eliminate such situations or prevent them altogether. They certainly don’t sit there like the TV Trump and watch it patiently. This isn’t the mafia- this is a corporate office. Companies that let their employees carry on like that will soon find themselves under their competition’s boot.

Bulldozers - To get to the final challenge on The Apprentice, one has to have thrown alot of people under the bus, people who were loyal to and supportive of them, people who actually did a good job and didn’t deserve to get run over. Thus, The Apprentice preaches the virtue of the bulldozer. It teaches that success in business comes by backstabbing, double-crossing, and manipulation of interpersonal relationships. I imagine organizational behavior scholars cringe at this because it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Numerous studies have shown that those who excel in business are, more often than not, those who communicate and influence people the best. That is not to say that these individuals are without ambition. It only means that they move up the ladder through motivating those around them instead of crucifying them.

Glamour - Perhaps to keep audiences involved, The Apprentice features one flashy advertising or PR challenge after another. You know, bungee jumping out of a hot air balloon in Central Park or using supermodels to sell dental floss. And this continues week after week, as if to say, business success belongs to those who can make the biggest extravaganza. In truth, however, that is not business so much as it is marketing communications and events planning. Real success in business comes from a company’s ability to streamline its production and supply chain, target its key consumers, and efficient manage its resources. The Apprentice rarely even touches on these important facets. Trump is more likely to find a great planner for his next wedding than he is to find a worthy apprentice.

Don’t believe what you see, kids! Business is not about going to the boardroom and out-arguing others. It’s not about making the biggest noise. On the contrary, it is about disciplined planning and execution of every little detail and then a little serendipity. Best of all, people don’t have to, and usually don’t, get fired every week.

By now, you’ve probably realized that getting a graduate degree is no small task. Perhaps, for this reason, those who stick with it and earn these degrees are given special deference.

Getting a master’s or doctorate degree is an accomplishment worthy of praise. It means that you have been exposed to and trained in a higher level of analysis and problem-solving than your bachelor-holding counterparts. Also, you have a higher level of expertise. Your professors, classmates, and materials were all of a higher caliber than those in the undergraduate programs. Many of your classmates may have real, bona fide job experience in your area of study. Let there be no doubt: you earn every square inch of that diploma.

Grad studies are hard. Professors will call you at random to answer difficult, complex, maybe even impossible, questions. You simply cannot wing it. The tests are cheat-proof. And guess what? Your classmates will be brilliant, too. You most likely will have gone from being the only shark in a small pond to being one shark in a shark tank full of man-eaters.

The following three questions are designed to test your resolve and fit for graduate studies:

1. Can you read, comprehend, and analyze large amounts of information?

Yes, you probably read a lot during your undergrad education. You may have read monsters like Dante’s Divine Comedy, which can weigh in at more than 1,400 pages. Or you may have been assigned three chapters of work per class period. If you did, the amount that you will read in a graduate program will not be too different. However, the understanding you will be expected to have of the material will be much higher.

In many MBA or law programs, for example, students are assigned multiple case studies daily. These cases will range from ten to fifty pages each. In addition to simply reading them, however, students are expected to synthesize the information and formulate a strong solution to the problem at hand. In class, students will be asked, often at random, to state and protect their solutions. With the whole room gunning for you, you’d better know your facts well. No one gets top grades for merely reading- A’s are reserved for those who can present and defend successful solutions.

If you are lacking in this department, does that mean you should forget about grad school? Not exactly. Many resources are available to get prospective grad students up to par with their voracious peers. Kaplan and Princeton Review, among others, offer great courses to get you ready.

2. Are your study skills and habits up to par?

Intellectual ability aside, many students struggle with maintaining good study habits. They sit down to read fifty-something pages about the intricacies of a FIFO accounting system over those of a LIFO system. But they get distracted, sometimes by roommates, sometimes by a butterfly on the window sill, sometimes by the Xbox 360 calling from the corner of the room. Next thing they know, four hours have flown by and it’s time to head to the barbecue. I mean, let’s face it: a vast number of us are just not as disciplined as we’d like to be.

With the armfuls of work you will be asked to juggle in a grad school program, strong study skills and habits are a must. Especially during the first year of most programs, you will need the strength to shun the video game console or the invitation to catch a movie and keep your nose in the books.

The blessed few of us who know when to say no to study temptations have my admiration and respect. The rest of us, however, who struggle with diligent study can have hope. There are resources to help. Many of them are designed to be taken the summer before you enter your program to give you the skills you will need to survive that crucial first year.

3. Do you have a great deal of interest in your prospective field of study?

When you enter a grad program in a given field, you become immersed in that topic. You eat, sleep, drink, and breathe that topic. When you’re waking thoughts are not plagued by thoughts of that topic, it haunts your dreams. And you generally associate only with others who are immersed in that topic. Therefore, knowing this, it is of the utmost importance that you choose to study something that will not sicken you after the first week.

Many prospective grad students can’t see this seemingly fundamental concept for the green in their eyes. Their thinking is this simplistic: "Lawyers make a lot of money. I want to make a lot of money. Therefore, I will go to law school to become a lawyer." They do not consider that students of the law must have an almost insane appreciation for semantics and the complexities of language. They must love to argue and debate. They must find meaning in reading the driest, most dense documents to glean out the crucial issues that will allow them to defend their position. Not surprisingly, these same students may find themselves paying the exorbitant fees of the first year of law school before they finally realize that they just plain don’t like studying the law and drop out.

Do yourself a favor and choose a graduate program that you can really get excited about. Take a moment or two and put aside all of the dollar figures. Do some research on the field you are considering. Know what interests you and know what turns you off. Taking this simple step will save you a lot of time, effort, and money in the long run.

So, are you ready for grad school? If you are, congratulations! You are set to broaden your horizons and take your career to the next level. If you’re not, you can do a lot to get ready.

About the author

Marcus Varner earned his BA in English from Brigham Young University with a Creative Writing emphasis. He is currently in his second year at BYU’s lauded MBA program studying Marketing. He blogs, writes fiction and screenplays, loves movies, and can’t resist playing superheroes with his kids.