Posts published on February 4, 2016

How to Continue Education after College

By Melissa Burns

Many students perceive their years at college as a surefire ticket into the adult life and a high-paying job. Never again are they going to study – serious work and career achievements is what awaits them.

Nothing can be further from the truth – at least if you really want any achievements. Education shouldn’t necessarily be formal and result in a diploma, but without ongoing self-improvement nobody can amount to much nowadays. So let’s talk about how you can get this self-improvement.

1.      Listen to Local Lectures and Readings

If you keep your eyes peeled you will find no end of open lectures, readings, conferences, appearances of well-known speakers, professors and authors in your vicinity. Sign up for the newsletters on the websites of local universities, bookstores, companies working in the industry you are interested in, writers and artists you want to hear. There are always interesting events to attend, so make sure you know of them.

2.      Online Education

There is a lot to say in support of online education and not really much to find fault with, as its negative aspects are quickly being rectified with the development of new methods and technologies. Even large companies, notoriously conservative in everything that concerns the education of their employees, more and more often choose online education in favor of any other approach as it shows itself to be more efficient, occupying less time, easier to arrange and faster to take hold. Click here to learn more.

3.      Find a Mentor

Learning from other people is probably the most effective way to find out new things. If you make it your rule to talk with specialists on unfamiliar topics from time to time, you will be amazed how much you can learn in a couple of hours by simply talking and listening.

Don’t know where to find a mentor? Ask around. One of your friends, relatives or acquaintances may turn out to be an expert in an unexpected field or know somebody who will be happy to chat with you on a topic you are interested in. But you have to ask – mentors don’t just appear, you have to actively look for them.

4.      Read

Reading may not be very popular in our age of five-second attention spans, but in all its history humankind is yet to find a better way to store and transfer knowledge than text. Reading is equally useful no matter what area you work on. If you want to learn more about the industry of your choice, read a non-fiction book on it. If you work in a creative field, read some fiction or poetry to get inspiration.

5.      Listen to Podcasts

Podcasts like Radiolab are ideal for these periods when we are performing some kind of mechanical, unthinking activity, like driving, jogging or cleaning up your place. They let you find out about all kinds of things you had no idea of without changing the routine of your day.

Learning after college is a must; it enhances your career, enriches your life and opens up new vistas for further development – and, as you may see, it doesn’t necessarily take up the lion share of your time.

Melissa Burns graduated from the faculty of Journalism of Iowa State University in 2008. Nowadays she  is an entrepreneur and independent journalist. Her sphere of interests includes startups, information technologies and how these ones may be implemented. – See more at: https://collegepuzzle.stanford.edu/?p=4955#sthash.Unf28FUO.dpuf

     

– See more at: https://collegepuzzle.stanford.edu/?p=5035#sthash.GX7DZwfE.dpuf