If you look around you, it doesn't take long before you can begin to notice others around you engaging in some kind of self improvement activity. If we want to look younger, we diet. If we want to feel younger, we exercise. To add culture to our lives, we might learn a second language or listen to classical music. These are all worth while self improvement activities we can participate in; however it can be shown that an increase number of Americans are continuing their education after high school. Some are returning to the online classroom after an absence of several years in order to enhance or change their career.

There are many people today from all walks of life who are getting an online college degree from home. Dollar for dollar, an online college degree or post graduate work pays off. The quickest way to give yourself a raise is to receive your certification in an area in which you are all ready working. Examples where board certification is pertinent include technical and vocational fields to name a few.

Sometimes an online college degree is very necessary in these instances. In some cases you have previously learned the information required of you for these various certifications, but will need the necessary degree in order to advance in your particular field.

So, let's discuss possible uses of a college degree via distance education. Many who are presently working in technical and vocational fields enroll in online courses to restructure and enhance their careers, and receive additional certification status.

Examples of this occur on an on-going basis. A thirty year old immigrant from South America began working as a nurse's aid, and is presently in her second semester of training from home at an online college.

A 50 year old white male enrolled in an online technical college to study electronics when the factory in which he had worked moved to Mexico early last year.

During a downsizing exercise at a psychiatric facility in Missouri, an education staff member returned to an online virtual classroom to gain continuing units of education, and add a minor to her present degree.

Thus, you can see with the use of those brief examples that continuing education can be useful as well as critical to your intellectual growth base.

An online college degree is more important than ever for several reasons.

Employers feel that we are presently in an employer's market. This means that they can be more selective in individuals they hire.

Jobs that glean more pay are more specialized. Specialized jobs require more training/education. This is true because these jobs require the manipulation of facts, figures, and/or technology which is often times sensitive, adaptive, or computerized.

Our current jobs in the U.S. are becoming more and more service oriented. These jobs have relatively low pay and our labeled unskilled work. Thus, one must retool to prepare his or her self to obtain a job requiring more skill and offering more pay.

Finally, we have entered a global economy. Such an economy demands higher prices for homes and automobiles without providing numerous gainful employment opportunities. How do you know if an online college degree is for you? First, if you lack a high school diploma, a college degree is a must. High school non-graduates make 25% less than starting salary employees with a high school education.

Secondly, you may presently hold a position that would pay you more if you held a degree from an online technical school or online community college. You may know this information from coworkers or acquaintances in your line of work.

Thirdly, if you are considered a non-traditional student. Financial incentives are available to attract such students. So if you could be described as a non-traditional or a minority student, smaller financial payout is a good incentive to continue your education.

Check out an online college degree portal and invest in your future. Give yourself a raise.
 

Gerald Maccoux is an online college recruiter and presently recruits college students via his college portal http://www.locate-a-college.com

The Art of Learning

My temples begin to throb and I can feel the panic rising in my throat, as I sit in the classroom. The minutes tick by and I still don't know what he's talking about. I look around the class and everyone else seems calm. It's just me.

I rifle through my scribbled notes, race through sections of his handout, and burn holes through the diagram in the book. No help; I'm getting more lost and desperate. Heart pounding, my thoughts go NASCAR. I don't need this crap. It's Saturday and I should be with my family; or giving a lecture; not sitting in the back of the room. I feel stupid, out of control, and childish. A trickle of sweat runs down my back and finds my underwear. Great.

As we age, hopefully we feel more mature. We gain wisdom from our experiences with the memories of decade's worth of success and failure to guide our decisions. We become a little less freaked out by what other people think; a little more comfortable doing it our way. We settle into the familiar rhythms of our lives. If married with kids, we can view the drama and machinations of young, single adults with a mixture of amusement and condescension. And some of this sense of superiority is completely illusory.

The truth is that most of us are simply a divorce or spousal death away from that same drama. The rhythms of daily hassle become the glaze over life's uncertain, rough spots. Simple experience and the passage of time don't necessarily make us wiser or healthier. Just older.

I started a post doctoral Master's of Science in Psychopharmacology last month and until spring we're studying biochemistry. I haven't taken a class like this in over 20 years and I am stunned to feel the same old angst, confusion, and panic that I did back then. The difference is that back then, I had more energy, more time, and more motivation. I was kind of used to feeling confused and panicky.

In our childhood, teens, and 20s we are constantly confronted with novel experiences and brand new learning. We're reaching out, stretching the envelope, testing the boundaries. The challenge of uncertainty is around every corner; we still believe in our dreams.

As we progress through adulthood, we orient ourselves toward the familiar. Increasingly, we unconsciously avoid novel situations that challenge or frighten us. The simple tasks of living take up more and more of our time. Formal, effortful learning becomes an ever more distant memory. This really means that proactive, self- guided, healthy change becomes less and less likely. More of our time is spent passively responding to our environment rather than actively remaking it.

To age healthily, the most important thing you can do is to not smoke cigarettes or drink too much alcohol. The second thing is to exercise regularly. The third is to keep learning. Research has shown that our brains tend to shrink and our cognitive function to decline as we age. The hardware of experience lies in the nerve cells of the brain.

Over time, brain cells decay and network connections are broken. But, every time you learn something, a new connection, a new pathway is formed in the network of your brain. Some researchers believe that learning in older adulthood is the most important element in avoiding dementia or Alzheimer's disease. A learning brain is replacing decaying neurons and broken memory connections with new ones, healthier ones. It's better than Botox.

You should be pushing the envelope and testing the boundaries throughout your life. On page 30 of my book, Stepping Stones: Ten Steps..., I discussed the Mastery Map, a hierarchical list of challenging, scary things that would be good for you if you did them.

On that list should be simple learning:

Sign up for a class. Find a new hobby. Subscribe to a magazine outside of your comfort zone. Go to a museum, exhibit, or planetarium. Look through the adult education catalogs you get in the mail. Read the weekend, calendar section of the paper for coming events. Splash cold water on your face and stomp the feeling back into your brain. Give yourself permission to wonder, to experience fear and awe again. Do you remember why the sky is blue?

It is 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning and I just found out via e-mail that I passed my first biochemistry test. The rusted, creaking machinery of my brain feels a little better oiled. Maybe the next time you or I challenge ourselves and feel that surge of fear rising, we'll know. I'm old enough to have purpose; and young enough to feel passion.

Good morning and good light,
 

Copyright 2004. Dr. Tim Sams. All rights reserved.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Tim Sams, Ph.D., is a life coach, published author and health psychologist, who teaches, motivates, and inspires others to achieve their personal goals and fulfillment. He resides in Orange County, California with his family, Lari and Leah.  Dr. Sams has multiple offices in Southern California, consulting to a few dozen pain physicians and hundreds of primary care physicians and orthopedic surgeons. He spends one day a week in his office educating patients on http://www.MyPainReliefDoc.com  and http://www.mysacredjourney.com . 

 
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