Board member, Diane Fall, speaks from experience regarding education providing a new lease on life. She got her Masters degree at 49 and began a new and exciting career as a Marketing Development Specialist and Gender Equity Coordinator for a college. Here’s a women who can tell you how rewarding education can be – at any age!
EDUCATION: Your New Lease on Life!
“Sometimes questions are more important than answers.” - Nancy Willard
You are going about your everyday routine, and life seems to be sailing along as usual, and suddenly you feel an old familiar urge, or maybe a longing. You just feel unsettled. There is something missing in your life, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. Maybe you have gone through a change in your life that has made a shift in your perspective such as; retirement, the kids are grown and off on their own, you are suddenly single (or not so suddenly), or perhaps your job just doesn’t provide the punch or zest that it once did. You may be a great candidate for returning to the classroom!
The idea of life-long learning is a wonderful philosophy to carry no matter your age or lifestyle. More and more adults are making their way back to school. Whether it’s to take a few brush-up sessions on the computer, quench the fires of a creative urge for an art class, or complete a formal degree, education can be just what the doctor ordered and your proverbial “new lease on life”!
There is nothing more satisfying than completing an educational goal. If your dream is to complete a formal degree, there are some great surprises in store for today’s student. Courses are no longer limited to a traditional classroom setting. Correspondence classes have been in existence for several decades, but now there are even more options! Students can choose:
1. The traditional classroom model,
2. find a classroom via the computer by logging in on-line (e-learning), or
3. combine both of those models in what is called a “blended” format. Blended classes allow students the flexibility of logging in on the computer for their assignments and homework, and then joining a “seminar” usually held once a week.
Intellectual stimulation helps us all stay mentally alert and active, but there are other advantages to enrolling in a class. Not only will you gain the knowledge shared in a class or workshop, the fringe benefits can be even more beneficial. The high potential for networking can be phenomenal. Imagine joining a group of individuals who also share the same interests such as religious history, completing a GED, or line dancing. What a relief to know that you are not alone in your interests! Great friendships can develop, and at the very least, you are spending quality time following your bliss.
How do you locate these opportunities? In almost every area of the country you will find formal education at local colleges and universities. These schools also hold workshops and some college credit classes can be audited for a reduced price. Interested in learning more about a specific subject such as health food or cycling? Then stop and think of who would be the local experts in your area of interest. Look for stores that sell related products and ask the staff for referrals on workshops or classes. Need to be retrained for employment, but do not know where to start for ideas? Again, contact your area college and university career centers. Many of these centers staff expert career counselors to help you formally assess your interests, abilities and values to aid in the best work place and career options based on your answers to career related questions specifically for you! If you are a lay-off survivor, visit your state’s workforce development office for programs designed to help you not only with an assessment, but sometimes with tuition aid.
Life-long learning is a beautiful thing, it can offer us a fresh look at our lives, and can stretch and challenge us in ways we never dreamed possible. Give it a try, invest in yourself. And as the old saying goes, “today is the first day of the rest of our lives”.
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