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Adult Education

One of the great things about getting older is that you can indulge your interests rather than worry about the necessary outcomes. This applies in spades to adult education.

You know yourself that the first 18 years of your life and education was given to people telling you things that, in their view, you had to know...then the next 20 or 30 years were spent applying whatever learning you were doing to your career prospects. 'Oooh, I'm doing applied spreadsheets at night school'. 'Fab! I'm off to do my MBA for the next 3-4 years'.

You know it's true. Dry, dull, necessary for advancement and all focussed on the getting ahead we all wanted to do.

Now you get to play.

Taking courses as a mature age student is an important part of your mid-life landscape.

  • Firstly because it gives you an opportunity to indulge all the interests you had but have had no time to pursue. This is utterly unconnected with your working life. This is all about exploring your passions.
  • Secondly, you already know that maintaining an active brain by learning new things reduces your risk of developing dementia related diseases as you age and keeps your brain elastic.
  • third, it makes you a more interesting person overall and
  • fourth, it gives you an opportunity to meet new people with similar interests.

    No downside at all.

    This can feel a little challenging if you have not done a lot of schooling as an adult. You might feel silly enrolling in a singing or a carpentry course, or you may feel that you don't, somehow, come up to scratch. Forget it. Adult learning is, above all, about what you want from the experience. Do not deny yourself.

    Start slow. There are community centres and adult education opportunities virtually everywhere. If that is still too daunting for you, try an online course from someplace like the University of the Third Age or U3A.

    They offer a wide range of courses that are stimulating and cost next to nothing to participate in. They are not academically accredited, but what do you care for accreditation? It's an interest, not a qualification you are pursuing. The courses are designed and run by enthusiastic volunteers and you will mix with like minded individuals around the world during the course.

    If you do want something more formal, like finally finishing your Masters after the kids have grown, so what? Go ahead and do it. You will almost certainly find that now that you are learning about your passions rather than what you MUST know, it is far more interesting an experience.

    Go back to school and this time, do it YOUR way.

    Aside from the topic studied, what did you learn?

    Going back to school is a real challenge. Have you done it recently? What did you learn about yourself? What insights/encouragements can you give others?

    Give the headline...

    What Others Have Said

    Check out what others have said about going back to school!

    Rose between many thorns?  Not rated yet
    I didn't go back to school until I was in my mid 40's. I got the chance to go to university part time once my kids went to school themselves and I was ...

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