Remember and Learn from your Life Experiences
By Charles L Harmon
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How many times have you feel like you’re in a rut? If you feel in a rut or slump, taking a class is a great way to get yourself out of it and back in the swing of things. We often get so bogged down by our responsibilities we overlook the fact that classes can expand our minds. Nowadays it’s really easy to take a class, since there are so many night and even day continuing education classes offered at local colleges. Most are relatively low-cost compared to regular classes one would take trying to get a degree. Many of the adult non-credit continuing education classes do not have stringent requirements and are designed for personal growth. There are even a myriad of online classes one can take also if that’s what you wanted or had to do.
Depending on the type of class and the school offering it, a lot of them are once a week for the non credit classes you might want to take. Classes can be to learn something new or learn more details on familiar things you already know something about. Even if it seems impossible to schedule your time for a class once a week you should try it. Maybe try a six week class or some other short time period to test this out.
The class can be in an area you’re interested in such as creating web sites, photography, breeding fish, refinishing furniture, or bird watching, etc. Both the class itself as well as meeting other like-minded people will be revitalizing. Some people even end up pursuing these hobbies as part-time income ideas because they found the class so rewarding. You also may end up making new friends. Some classes beat trying to learn things on your own. For example, I went back to night-school in my late thirties to learn Spanish. There were some people I knew that spoke Spanish. The classes were interesting and I learned a little Spanish, which was a great help. In Southern California Spanish is a good thing to know.
Other times you might find a subject you never liked so much is really fascinating. An example of such was when I decided to take a history class. I never really liked history, but the title of the class “History of Civilization” was interesting so I thought I’d give it a try. As it was, that was one of the most interesting classes I ever had in college, and I have had a ton of classes. It changed my whole outlook on history. It was all due to the excellent teacher.
You may have objections such as you’re too busy or you are nervous about going back to school. Look at your objections closely and see the benefits of the class when you do this. Taking a six-week class for no credit is not the same as memories from high school or college many of us have. Even if in the same college you attended earlier working toward your degree. Most occupational classes or non-credit classes are in a relaxed atmosphere surrounded by others also with busy lives, and not related to the pressures you may have remembered from your earlier school days.
If you think you just can’t squeeze in the time, think about when you can. Be honest with yourself and if the time is years away, then realize that even then you may have yet another set of excuses to postpone taking time for yourself.
Look at what captivates your attention in magazines, bookstores and other settings as these are good clues to some of your hidden interests you have not had time to pursue. If you still feel stuck about what you can take in school, think about some ideas you had as a teenager or young adult that you may never had time to try. Often these seed ideas are still dreams we have even if they’ve gone through various modifications. Many times, even at a much older age the same dreams and ideas surface.
Many people even pursue some classes and education even at advanced ages. I didn’t feel at all out of place when I went back to Riverside Community College and took some classes to brush up on my programming. Although I had been programming for over twenty years and was no youngster at the time, I noticed others too were not youngsters. I even opted to take my classes in “C” and Visual Basic for credit, which meant they were harder and required lots of homework unlike most night-time non-credit classes.
In my case it’s been over thirty years since I graduated from the university and I have gone back to school many times. Sometimes I was able to get free classes because I could tie them to my job (a computer programmer/analyst). Other times I just wanted to learn something new. I remember the time myself and a group of thirty-somethings all went to night-school to take a heavy-weight physics class at UCLA. I was in my thirty’s then, well out of college. That class turned out to be so very interesting that the hall was packed for every class. They were overflowing, with students outside the door, out in the hallway, trying their best to hear what was going on. Imagine a class on Black Holes and other astrophysical phenomena that was so exciting, so spellbinding, that many hundreds of people looked forward to each class, and were anxious to learn more.
If you have a family and you go back to school, you’ll also be sending a message to your kids that learning is life-long and education isn’t just something that’s over once you finish college, but a value to always cherish.
Copyright © 2007 Charles Harmon
One of Charles’ favorite interests is internet marketing, especially creating traffic to websites. Charles is also interested in inspirational stories.
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