Once you’re a full fledged adult, going back to school seems like a step backward doesn’t it? You might think, “Isn’t school for when I was in my teens and twenties, trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up?” Well, sure it is, but school is also a great opportunity to try something new and different. Now I’m not talking about going back to school to get your law degree or your MBA, but rather going back to undergrad or taking classes at the local community college.
As passionate people, sometimes all it takes is an introduction to something we’ve never tried before to spark a new hobby, or even a new career. While it’s possible to learn gain new interests and new skills by meeting people, going online, or just fumbling around on your own, the structure and regimented pace of a class can help you commit the time to really learn instead of always putting it off for “next weekend.”
I’ve recently gone back to school to take a few classes and found the experience not only energizing but really rewarding, even just a few weeks in. Oftentimes I hear complaints from my friends about feeling stagnant, or bored, or missing something to keep their mental gears turning.
My solution is to take classes. It doesn’t have to be in something you’ve already developed an aptitude in either. If you acquired a hand me down DSLR camera over the holidays, maybe a class on the history of photography, or even the art of film might be useful and expand your interest. Just being in an environment with other students can be immeasurable motivation to get a project off the ground. In addition, having an instructor to focus your efforts and be ready resource is extremely valuable. You can even take your classes online to save money on travel and other commuting costs. This allows you to further your education, while limiting the amount of debt that you are forced to deal with after school. The great news is that many online universities offer the same level of education online as they do through their on-campus schools, which means that you will have access to the same facilities and instructors that you would if you were commuting to university every day. You can even interact with other class members via the online message board, allowing you to get the full university experience without visiting the campus.
Personally, I jumped into history, literature, and sociology classes because I missed thinking and reading critically. When I attended college, I didn’t have enough time to take all the classes I would have enjoyed. Since then, I’ve also developed additional interests and am curious to explore them in an academic setting.
Sometimes we lose the idea of simple exploration and get sucked into thinking that anything we do as adults has to have a forward purpose. If you’re reading this site, you already know life doesn’t usually unfold just in forward or reverse. There are sidesteps, missteps, pauses, and moments to catch your breath and look around, seeing if something else might catch your eye.
Being back in school has been a refreshing experience, and the best part is? This time you’re not being graded.
People often say that “youth is wasted on the youth” but I think school is wasted on the youth. When you are 19 you just want to enjoy parent-free freedoms, not study all the time. I get so much more enjoyment out of classes now that I am older then I did when I was in college. (I even enjoy doing the homework now!)
Oh I definitely agree in most circumstances. I really think undergrad is the new high school, where people go because they sort of have to and don’t know what else to do. It’s a lot of sleepwalking to and in class. I get so much more enjoyment out of classes now too! I think at the very least freshmen should be only allowed to take a half load for the integration time or something. Or undergrads have to take a year off somewhere to go work and then return.
Attending extension classes is great. Going for the sake of learning is a beautiful thing!
I love the ideas here. I think that learning about a concentrated subject is engaging, and can help improve your work in all sorts of areas.
I also like the idea of schooling being a class here and there – which is definitely something I’ve pursued since leaving grad school.
I’m hoping to take an organized photography class at a local community college sometime in the next year or two.
It might have to wait longer than I would like, because after this semester I’ve got about ten more classes to finish up to get my bachelor’s, and I’m eager to finish before I’m 23. 😛
After a 5 year absence, I returned to school last year to finish my bachelor’s degree. Because of the long period of disuse, the calculus gave me some difficulty. Otherwise, I was amazed by how much easier my classes seemed. I would laugh silently every time my fellow classmates complained that an assignment was difficult. I’ve come to believe that maturity and focus will take you much further than raw intelligence ever can.
I also had a nice opportunity that I needed to take three classes, but only one in my major (which was fortunate because there were only two classes in my major available that semester that I had not already taken). So I took a course that was not required but I believed would be helpful to my career and a course that had absolutely no use to be other than looking interesting. I was the only non-business major who took macro-economics that semester.
I’ve been out of school for couple years now, but I love going back and taking random classes.
Here’s a thought, too: If you have a large university near by, you can simply waltz into almost any class bigger than, say, 30 people and no one will ever know you’re not on the class list.
I used to do this all the time at Portland State for classes I was interested in but didn’t want to pay for and didn’t really care if they were on my transcript.
Tyler,
That’s a great idea that I’ve often thought of trying but never had the guts to actually do.
I’ve “sneaked” my husband into quite a few of my classes. 🙂 (Actually, he’s sitting next to me in one of my management classes right now. I’m multi-tasking. ;))
I’ve been going back after many years to finish up my bachelor’s. You’re right about critical thinking, I forgot how much of it I was required to do when I first started college. Though school now is tough in many ways its refreshing to get the dust off the old brain cells. And being older gives me a fresh perspective that many new students don’t have on the subjects. This is especially true in literature classes where I have more life experience than your average student.
@Craig I’m taking a few literature classes and found myself very curious about what “new” students are thinking and writing about. It’s definitely been interesting to explore what they are putting to paper, especially in way of a memoir class. Good luck with finishing!
I’m back in school full time now; I’ve got about a decade on the average student. It’s easy to see the difference in perspective a few years will give you; I feel like I’m getting a lot more out of many of my classes than fellow students. While I don’t want to be in some of my classes, I try to approach them with the attitude that I can learn something. Invariably, I do!
It’s great to have some random classes in subjects that you actually enjoy. I imagine that I will always be in school of some sort. Whether or not I go for a master’s, I’ll take some night classes to delve into new skills that interest me. Maybe some photography, perhaps writing, or even some hands-on classes at the tech college. There’s always more to learn, and formal classes can help me learn it faster than I would on my own (it’s always nice to learn from someone else’s mistakes).
Don’t forget that you don’t have to sign up for a college class. You can find a weekend workshop on a subject that you find interesting. This shorter time-frame might help ease the burden of finding a couple months worth of time.