Lifelong Learning: School Days the Second Time Around
by KT
After a few decades of putting what we learned to work building a career, we don’t always think of committing more time to learning in a classroom setting.
Been there, done that.
“I’m retired now and have the time to spend on things that interest me, time to concentrate on my bucket list.” But the bucket list may include the degree you always wanted in Archaeology or learning Mandarin.
There are plenty of options on your list for all your free time; spending more time with the family, taking on a part-time job, volunteering, taking up a hobby, mentoring and going back to school.
The choices available in Victoria are daunting; once you start looking you keep finding more….local universities and colleges provide Continuing Studies calendars for their summer and winter programs.
The University of Victoria, Royal Roads University and Camosun College offer certificate and diploma courses that require an application for admission if you want credit for the courses, or you can enroll directly in a class through Continuing Studies as a non-credit student.
If you can’t commit to a credit course, you can sign up for a non-credit course or a lecture series, and exercise your educational chops in a lecture theatre or a classroom where the chair somehow seems a little smaller than it once did. There are also online or long-distance options available.
You can register online, in person, by mail or by fax. There are classes and workshops available to fit your schedule on weekdays, evenings and weekends or online at your own pace.
While the regular fall/winter sessions at UVic are well underway, there are still plenty of choices on the books for classes starting every month between now and August. There are dozens of obvious choices; art, music, photography, history, financial planning and business, languages, computing and technology, writing, sociology, health and wellness etc. And the not so obvious: brush up on your math, hazardous waste management, educational skills, or how about a five-hour Saturday Improvisational Comedy Workshop?
If there is a complaint to be made about the offerings, it is the difficulty you may have in choosing just one. Each calendar page offers about half a dozen course descriptions. Flip it open and find an “Exploring Roman Britain’ course across the page from ‘Black History in Victoria’ course. http://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/onlinecalendar/
UVic offers languages from Arabic to Mandarin, and more that may just help you negotiate taxi rides, coffee bars and menus in foreign lands this summer.
You don’t have to sit in a lecture hall or behind a desk, there are free Urban Restoration walks looking at restoration projects in Mystic Vale, Mount Douglas and Mount Tolmie parks in February.
UVic also offers a free lecture series, you have to call in person to register as the seating is limited and you are limited to four of the Dean’s Lunchtime Lecture series. Check out the various subjects at: http://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/lectures/deans/
Royal Roads University offerings are generally focused on the workplace, specifically in Professional Advancement, the Arts, Green Learning and Personal Enrichment. RRU also offers the Mentors and Masters Series that ranges from a two-hour lecture to a three-day event.
Check out the Continuing Studies calendar for short-term computer courses or an introduction to the world of Coast Salish art. There are courses on organic gardening, growing food in the city and landscaping. Or try an Introduction to Puppetry, Etching on Glass, Maximizing Your Stock Portfolio, Tea Leaf Reading or Pie-Making 101. http://www.royalroads.ca/continuing-studies/
Some of the certificate programs available through Royal Roads include HR, Professional Management, Communications, Conflict Analysis, Ecological Literacy and Carbon and Energy Leadership, Disaster and Emergency Management and Hospitality and Tourism. Many of the Royal Roads programs are available online or in combination with classroom time. The University does provide some customized programs that allow you to start at any time during the year and complete a program over one or two years.
The Camosun College Winter Calendar offers more than 100 certificate and diploma programs and over 1,500 regular and continuing education courses.
You can apply for admission to certificate programs or sign up for individual Continuing Education courses with interesting names like “Shooting Social Media Videos That Don’t Suck” or a something-for-everyone course like “Computers - Level 1 for Seniors” which is ’taught at a gentle pace’ according to the course description.
There are Arts, Business, Computing, Food and Beverage, Horticulture, Healthcare, Language and Nautical courses listed as well as Trade programs and parenting courses. Under Food and Beverage you will also find a brunch cooking course and a pizza course. You can check the calendar for specific courses in areas like Insurance or Occupational Safety.
Camosun College has two main campuses, Landsowne and Interurban. Like other institutions, there are many choices for registration. The current calendar is available online http://camosun.ca/learn/ The spring/summer calendar will be available March 17th.
These institutions don’t offer seniors’ rates although they do offer bursaries and financial aid for lifelong learners. Once you’ve had a look and whetted your appetite with a Wish/Bucket list of courses, take the next step and register. Online, in person, by phone, fax or by snail-mail.
*** KT is a Victoria-based writer who writes for bestseniorsinfo.com on a variety of subjects.
