I realized the other night that I have made myself a student – in spite of the fact that I graduated more than a year ago.
I can’t help it.
I spent so many years (8!) going to college full-time while working almost full-time that now, when I only have a job and start-up business to worry about, I feel like I’m not challenged enough.
No. It’s not even that.
It’s just that I love to learn new things.
I realized this – this idea that I am putting myself through ‘independent study’ – when I was reading the 2008 Democratic Platform start-to-finish. When I was on page 32 of 59. With the 2008 GOP Platform waiting for my attention.
It must drive Julie crazy.
Andrew is used to it.
But, in the few months I’ve lived with the Schuberts it seems like every couple days I’ll be sitting in my computer chair in the corner, Julie will walk by, and I’ll say, “Do you know what I learned today?”
What I have studied in the past (post-graduation):
- Personal finance
- Phoenix suns
- Scrapbooking
- Photography business
- Photography
I got pretty inundated with some of this.
Ex: the Phoenix Suns. The NBA in general, really. I read everything I could get my hands on about every game last season, pretty much. Now I still subscribe to a few Suns/NBA blogs. But I only skim for the highlights.
That’s probably how most of these will go. I will read/study/learn everything I possibly can over a period of months, and then lightly keep up going forward.
Ex: politics. Still learning about that right now. But I foresee soon when I will only skim the headlines to keep just current (instead of immersed).
What I am studying now:
- True crime
- Politics
- Real estate
- American history/US Presidents
Steadily reading through my dad’s book collection and will shortly begin checking books out from the library.
What I plan to study in the future (if I live long enough):
(obviously there are overlaps. Also, these are in no particular order. Nor is this list comprehensive)
- Classical music
- World history (you know, little by little)
- Roman empire
- Ancient Greece
- Ancient Egypt
- WWI and II
- Napoleon
- British royalty
- Renaissance
- Film photography
- Spanish (really)
- Bible (ok, I grew up in the church and I’ve taken 2 classes on the Bible but I’ve never read it cover to cover)
- Alternative Energy
- Fitness and nutrition
- Movies/films (history)
- Music history
- Music theory
- Art history
- Saints and martyrs
- Fiction writing
- Gardening (obviously will wait til we have a house)
- Cooking
- Architecture
- Literature (obviously I studied this in the past, but I really want to get back into it sometime. Not yet. My brain still needs to rest a bit from it. Plus, academic articles are harder to find if you’re not associated w/ a school)
I went to the library the other day and it was totally overwhelming …. I need there to be more hours in the day.
Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.
It’s a good goal to be a lifetime learner. There’s so much out there. I wish I had more time to take classes and read. I’d love to take a landscape architecture class and of course, a photography class. I learn better by doing and being able to ask questions rather than just reading about it.
I’ve heard that “The Message” version of the Bible is a good one for easy reading cover to cover. I also remember reading a book when I was in high school called “The Book of Martyrs” that had some pretty amazing accounts in it.