|
Table
of Contents
1.
Go Back to School: Why, When and How
2. Cool Careers #121 –
Children's party organizer
3. National Volunteer Week
For
many seasoned professionals 50 and older, an encore career begins
with a return to the classroom in some fashion. You may decide to
sign up for training to buff up a skill set you already possess, or
be headed in a completely new direction, e.g. Advertising sales
executive to life coach (Howard); public relations small business
owner to yoga teacher (Marika).
The
truth is, learning is not a process we can turn on and off at will.
It's a life-long endeavor whether we are enrolled in a formal program
or course, or just going about our lives. Spend some time with a
small child and you'll know everything about learning you ever need
to know. Even infants are masters at:
Observation.
From the moment they are born, they are watching, listening,
absorbing information from their environment. Paying attention
comes naturally to us, yet we can allow this survival skill to
become dull through lack of practise.
Experimentation.
We all learn, by
trial and error, within the first few weeks of
life what will produce nourishment, touch, bodily comfort. A story
that illustrates our innate intelligence: newborn twin girls, one
healthy, the other fighting for her life, were placed in a single
incubator. The healthier twin – displaying an instinct that
amazed the neonatal staff – got her arm around her smaller sister.
The weaker baby's heart stabilized and her temperature rose to
normal.
Exploration.
By the time we are 2, we are already well launched on a life-long
exploration propelled by curiosity: Who am I? What is the world?
When, where and how can I have an impact on it? Everything flows
from that.
What follows is a selection of resources -- fr*ee,
low-cost, readily accessible and thought-provoking -- that can rev
up your learning, whatever the outcome you have in mind.
For
advice and contact information on distance learning resources, and
the skinny on diploma mills, this is THE site. A division of Ten
Speed Press, perhaps most famous for having the vision to grab
unknown author, Richard Bolles, and launch the What Color is Your
Parachute phenom. Give yourself at least an hour to explore:
http://www.degree.net/ “We
aim to be the number one source of honest, unbiased information on
degree-granting institutions worldwide. While our primary area of
expertise is distance learning, and we do produce some of the
best-selling books in the field, our ultimate goal is to help
students, prospective students, hiring and HR officers, law
enforcement, the media, and other people who need the truth about
any aspect of education in the world today.”
Credentials,
schmedentials, you say? If you are attracted to apprenticing
– the noble way of learning at the side of a master (think chef,
artisan, wine or cheese maker) -- here's a
fascinating essay on the subject that suggests apprenticing may be
an educational model due for a revival. Says blogger (McGee's
Musings), Jim McGee: “Learning
to do knowledge work is more apprenticeship than job training.”
http://www.mcgeesmusings.net/2005/06/01.html
Fascinating
and frequently surprising material on the brain at venerable Dana
Foundation, http://www.dana.org/braincenter.cfm
and
http://www.dana.org/seniors/
-
Calling
all autodidacts. How would you like to study at one of the world's
great universities for fr*ee? Well, with MIT's Open Courseware, you
can. Read their mission statement, then log on. “MIT
OCW is a large-scale, Web-based publication of the educational
materials from the MIT faculty's courses. This unique initiative
enables the open sharing of the MIT faculty's teaching materials
with educators, enrolled students, and self-learners around the
world. MIT OCW provides users with open access to the syllabi,
lecture notes, course calendars, problem sets and solutions, exams,
reading lists, even a selection of video lectures, from 1250 MIT
courses representing 34 academic disciplines and all five of MIT's
schools. The initiative will include materials from 1800 courses by
the year 2007.” http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html
See
also, Autodidact Press http://www.autodidactic.com/
What
do Charles Schwab, Richard Branson, ceo of Virgin, and John
Chambers, ceo of Cisco Systems have in common? All overcame
learning disabilities by choosing to see them as an opportunity.
See Learning from Successful people:
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1451.cfm
If you or your
elder parents would benefit from learning about computers and
gaining access to the stimulation and knowledge available from the
Internet, here are two nonprofit organizations that offer brick and
mortar facilities and a cyber community for older adults.
CyberSeniors.org, headquarters in Portland, ME. Computer
Learning Centers, in nine states with more on the way, offer hands
on training with typical student-teacher ratio of 3:1 or 2:1. The
model is easily replicated. More information: info@cyberseniors.org
or call 1.888.676.6622.
http://www.cyberseniors.org/artman/publish/index.shtml
Founded
in 1986 in Santa Clara, CA, SeniorNet.org,
http://www.seniornet.org/php/default.php
has 240 learning centers in the US, plus a wealth of resources,
yours for the asking. 408.
615. 0699.
Learning
Annex. Now in nine major US cities in Canada, this highly
successful outfit has made learning inexpensive, accessible and fun,
whether your goal is a new career in real estate, you want to learn
a language, brush up your software skills, of delve into your own
spirituality, to cite a small sample of their offerings. Big name
faculty, too. (Calling Deepak Chopra.) Now offering online courses.
http://www.learningannex.com/
.
Look
for local versions of this non-credential type of learning in your
city, e.g. Learning Connection in Providence, RI, where Howard has
taught the 2young2retire course. http://www.learnconnect.com/
Quick
Takes
Another
sign that attitudes toward aging are taking a turn for the better:
CNN's new Life After Work, a 90-second segment broadcast on such
prime time shows as Paula Zahn Now and American Morning (check you
local CNN listings). Howard and Marika were the 'stars' of a recent
show, shot at Loggerhead Fitness, where Marika teaches (and Howard
takes) yoga classes, and at the 'international HQ' of
2young2retire.com – our dining table. If you have a post-career
story (yours or someone else's) with good visual potential for TV,
give us a shout, and we'll pass your information to the producers.
Marika@2young2retire.com
.
Cool
Career #121. Do you love little children, posses a wash-n-wear
wardrobe, craft skills, and infinite patience? Children's Party
Organizer could be the enterprise with your name on it. We attended
the birthday party of a friend's grandson in California recently,
and were amazed at how much fun the organizer seemed to be having,
up to her elbows in play clay.
Cool
Career #122. Longevity, the mother of invention? With centenarians
the fastest growing segment and those 85+ a close second, some smart
marketers are producing gifts and cards for milestone birthdays and
anniversaries. We're not talking geezer humor here, but gifts that
honor aging. See story:
http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-prime0412.artapr12,0,7020691.story?coll=hc-headlines-life
With
National Volunteer Week starting (April 23-29), this is the perfect
time to recruit volunteers for your nonprofit organization. Check
out this how-to from Volunteer Match:
http://www.volunteermatch.org/nonprofits/gettingstarted/
Good
news for the economy: "If even 5
million baby boomers work instead of retiring, at an average wage of
about $50,000 a year, that would add $250 billion to the economy
every year," says Peter Francese, founder of American
Demographics magazine and a demographic trends analyst for the
Ogilvy and Mather advertising agency.
By
2011 the available jobs are likely to outnumber by 4.3 million the
pool of workers in the 18 to 62 age group. -- The Employment
Policy Foundation
Beauty
maybe more than skin deep. But since women 50 and older account for
nearly 70% of cosmetics purchases, it's no surprise that many of the
top players are gearing up to offer us an array of products
specially formulated for aging skin. Just keep using sun-screen
everytime you go outdoors, says our dermatologist.
We're
taking CPR training...everyone should, considering how critical an
expert first response can be. If you need further convincing, read
Joan Didion's best-selling Year of Magical Thinking.
-
A
little gem: http://www.ehow.com/
Clear instructions on how to do (just about) anything.
Stay
well, make it new, make it better.
|
