From the Career Opportunities Archives…
Once I left college with my Bachelor’s degree, I never really looked back at mainstream education. I did ok in college, but I often tell people that I think I learned more from spending every night in the theater than I learned in the classroom. Sure I learned about science, language, history and more, but in the theater I learned about people and, in many cases, the real world. Due to my regular role as a stage manager, I learned about management, personalities, organization, motivating others and hard work. Even within the relatively cocooned environment of college, I was already living in the larger world.
In the intervening years, instead of returning to college to get an advanced degree, as my wife has done, I have developed more and more ways of educating myself. I find that, for me, self-directed education seems the best fit for my sensibilities. One reason for this is that it allows me to explore interesting topics in much more depth than I might ever be able to do otherwise. I have a widely varied set of interests and I can’t imagine any degree program that would allow me to explore every one. One week I might find myself immersed in the history, art and craft of coffee, while in another I am learning everything I can about the WordPress blogging engine. Next week it could be the advertising market or a new plan for educating others. The only way I can deal with my roving eye for education is to manage it myself.
Read this entire column – Educating Yourself
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