Learning New Skills After the Degree

While the days of study cram sessions and 3 a.m. paper writing are behind me, I do miss the opportunity to sit in a classroom, engage in interesting discussions with peers, and pick up new ideas and skills along the way. My college was big on the idea of intellectual curiosity for life and I firmly believe that’s one of the best attitudes to approach life.

Just because you have your diploma doesn’t mean your educational growth should end. Grad school is, of course, an option, but not right for everyone. So if you’re seeking an outlet outside of the master’s and doctorate classrooms, consider the following options:

 

Online Classes

Online learning isn’t just a wave of the future but a very active option. Several sites specialize in teaching all kinds of skills from the convenience of your home. Recently popular is Coursera, a site that offers outstanding classes from some of the world’s top universities. Emory, Brown, Stanford, Ohio State, the University of Michigan and the Universities of Copenhagen and Melbourne are just a few options in a growing list. Topics are of the more formal academic variety, including everything from business to writing composition to calculus and beginning guitar. Each course varies in length and homework load, but they all include an introduction and video to learn more about the expectations. The end result is a certificate of completion. And the best part? FREE.

 

There are also sites that provide more niche areas. Nicole’s Classes, for example, offers online courses in Adobe programs as well as options in graphic design and topics like floral arranging and watercolor. The Girl’s Guide to Web Design teaches coding and website creation basics. Alt Summit (THE conference and resource for lifestyle bloggers) has a channel with several mini-courses covering blogging topics like photography, editorial calendars and graphic design. Basically if you’re interested, there’s likely a course out there you can find online.

 

Community Courses

In January I was writing an article about where to take classes in Indianapolis and was blown away by the options out there. Everything from dance to painting and glass blowing to Polynesian dance were available through some local venue. Community centers (think the YMCA) are a great place to start looking for classes. Public libraries sometimes offer mini-courses or seminars. Small local stores are also known for providing learning opportunities, like sewing classes at fabric stores or knitting lessons at a craft shop. But typically if you’re looking for something specific–adult ballet classes in Cincinnati, for instance–a quick Google search is going to land you a location.

 

College Campuses

Even if you aren’t–and don’t want to be–a full time student, universities tend to offer amazing lectures and speakers that are free and open to the public. The speakers at my college during my four years included Tony Blair, Madeleine Albright, Robert Kennedy, Jr., and Jennifer Egan, who had just won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. All of them were open to the community, though there was typically only a handful of people that took advantage of the opportunities. If you’ve turned in your college kid membership, guess what? You now fall into that community member category of the universities you live near. A lot of schools have major speaker events, but they also have smaller lectures on a variety of topics, whether from faculty members or visiting scholars. Check out their events calendars or department websites to see what’s on the agenda for the future.

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