4 Ways to Keep Learning After College

I’ve always been a lover of learning. My favorite part of being in school was getting to learn about subjects that sparked my interest and imagination. Though I hated studying for history tests (since they are basically just memorization tests), I remember being so fascinated during lectures in my U.S. and European history classes. The same was true for my English classes, where I got to learn about things that made the literature nerd in me so happy, like themes and symbolism and writing styles (seriously you guys, these things make me swoon).

But now that I’ve been out of college for awhile, I’m really starting to miss that. I guess that was the neat thing about high school, too - getting to learn about a range of different subjects every day, even if they weren’t necessarily what you were going to use in your career. For those of us who have left the academic world behind (at least for now), it's easy to think that we’ll never get another experience like that again.

But I’m here to say - well, why shouldn’t we? Why shouldn’t we learn about the things that interest us just for the heck of it - even if they don’t lead to promotions or new job opportunities? I think it’s such a valuable thing to be a well-rounded person who is knowledgeable about all kinds of things. Being educated will always make you a more conscious and intelligent individual. And for that reason, I’ve started to look into different learning opportunities that may not result in a degree, but will quell my desire for learning just the same.

Here are a few ways you can keep the learner in you alive and well (and yes that's me pretending to learn in front of the New York Public Library ;).

Sign up for a Free (or Super Cheap) College Course

Yes, free college courses exist. And yes, they’re actually free. Not too long ago, I found out that quite a few universities offer free classes to the general public. The topics range in pretty much anything - from science to history to writing. Finding one that sparks your interest will just require a bit of time and research on your part (aka, a basic Google search, you guys. Works every time), but I promise, it will be well worth it. I recently signed up for my first official free course (a study on the history of missions!) and I’m so excited to get into it. A lot of universities also have cheap post-bacc options in case you don’t find a free course that interests you. Not a bad investment, in my opinion.

Take a Class to Learn a New Skill

Courses for learning new skills aren’t always provided by colleges, but there’s a lot of good ones out there you can find for miscellaneous interests. Want to learn photography? I promise there’s a great, affordable course out there for that. Need some tips on finishing your novel? I know for a fact some writers have great courses about that! We live in the age of information, guys, and that means a wealth of knowledge is literally at our fingertips. There are so many things we can learn just through our computer screen, which is so awesome/crazy/overwhelming to me!

Watch Documentaries

It’s just like watching a movie, except, you know, you might learn a thing or two (not that you can’t learn anything from movies, but you know what I mean ;). I still have to get into the routine of watching documentaries (there are tons of them on Netflix, y’all), but it’s definitely something I’m planning to do during my lunch hour, rather than just watching TV shows all the time. If you’re not sure where to start, Darling Magazine posted this article with some documentary suggestions. I’ll be watching a few of these myself.

Read

How could I not mention reading? There's nothing quite like reading a book to educate yourself on a particular subject, because it allows you to fully process information in a way that a lot of other methods don't. One of my favorite sections of Barnes & Noble is the Current Events/Social Sciences Section. There are hundreds of books there about social phenomenons, history and things so relevant to our world today. If the "educational" type of nonfiction books bore you though, try picking up the biography of an influential person. It'll read a lot like a novel, but also teach you a lot about the world in the process.

Share with me how you stay a learner in the comments! :)

#life #2016