Ideally, retirement is a time for you to reinvent yourself and to be able to pursue the interests and activities that would have been impossible to take on while having a full time job. With free time in retirement, you can travel, learn a language or take on a hobby that has always piqued your curiosity. Because of the freedom from time constraints that it allows, retirement can be considered an exciting new life chapter. Revisiting education in retirement can be a hobby in itself, and a great way to do that is through any easy-to-access continuing education program with diverse course offerings.
Lifelong learning involves education for education’s sake. You learn something not because you feel that you have to, but because you want to. For some people, the idea of learning something new post-working years has never even crossed their minds as a feasible undertaking. But the truth is, learning never has to end, and it never should end. Revisiting education in retirement means having the freedom to explore anything you have ever wanted to know more about. Is there something you would simply like to understand better? Is there a topic that you have always found interesting? Or maybe there is a new skill that you would like to develop? In retirement, as long as you are standing on financially sound ground, you have more than enough freedom to pursue all of these avenues.
If you are skeptical about considering continuing education in retirement, here are a few additional aspects to learning that you should keep in mind:
Learning is for everyone. Literally everyone can learn something new at any age, so do not think that learning in retirement can’t be right for you.
Learning gives you a feeling of accomplishment. When you feel like you are working toward something and filling your head with new facts, it gives you a heightened sense of purpose.
There are unlimited subjects to learn about. If you get bored with one subject or decide it was not as interesting as you thought it might be, then simply move on to the next!
Learning can be a social activity. Invite a friend or your spouse to take a course with you. You can also connect with people you don’t know who are taking the same course and make new friends and colleagues!
Knowledge does not have to be limited to what is profitable. In school, you may have chosen a course of study based on the fact that it could lead you to a profitable career. However, lifelong learning in retirement does not issue that same sort of pressure. Your reason for learning may be out of pure interest, or it may be to help you learn how to help others or to support a worthy cause. It does not have to be a financially-driven motive.
With programs like the University Of West Alabama Online Continuing Education, you can start revisiting education in retirement from the comfort of your own home—or anywhere that has an internet connection. These online-based courses vary in subject matter, and there truly is something to appeal to all types of interests.
You don’t have to live near UWA to sign up for one of these courses. They are open to anyone, anywhere in the country! To learn more, email [email protected], or visit https://uwa.augusoft.net/!