It’s finally within reach. After multiple semesters/quarters, a truckload of studying, and feeling every single emotion humanly possible, you’re finally seeing the neon light at the end of the tunnel (partially intentional reference to Blake Shelton). Graduation day is here, and you are finally ready to earn your diploma/degree. Your first thought: It’s finally over. I have finally finished my education.
Are you truly done learning?
That’s something I thought to myself. I considered graduate school early on during my undergraduate studies but ultimately decided against it. However, literally within hours of graduating from my university, I had regrets from my undergraduate days. One of those regrets was not minoring in business administration. I thought of business administration as a fascinating topic especially since I was part of a business club in high school. Since I didn’t pick that minor, I thought that my career options would be more limited. I thought that since I was done with school, I would have to handle the cards I was dealt.
I realized I was wrong. Dead wrong. I learned about a website called HubSpot Academy. I gladly decided to take the opportunity to further my education. Before I knew it, I was certified in Content Marketing. I am very happy I was dead wrong about being done with education. I felt like in a sense I was partially making up for the business minor I never obtained.
Furthering your education has wonderful advantages. My sister spent the summer after her college graduation studying acting in Los Angeles, California. It had a great effect on her, as she believes the education helped her performance in the acting roles she landed. After seeing her roles, I am impressed with how well she did.
Of course, furthering your learning doesn’t always have to mean taking certification classes or attending performing arts school to expand upon your degree.
Are you taking a belly dancing class at your local community center on Thursday evenings after work? That counts as furthering your learning. Have you recently enrolled in a Saturday afternoon stationary bike lessons at the fitness center local to your home? That, too, counts as furthering your learning.
There are many other ways to expand upon your learning. Always wanted to learn more about red wolves? You can check out books through your local library and learn a whole new set of information about the beautiful animals.
Have you been wanting to learn how to do a specific makeup look for a family member’s wedding or for a costume you want to wear to your office Halloween party? You can find makeup tutorials on YouTube that will help you get to the look you’re interested in.
Are you looking into becoming a calmer, more peaceful driver? You can take defensive driving classes and learn how to be more confident whilst driving.
We learn in small days every single day, like when we watch the news. Watching the news helps us learn more about what’s going on in the world. We learn about what’s going on in our cities, towns and states. We learn about the weather patterns in our states and cities.
When we watch sports, we learn, too. We learn about sports terms, such as a home run in baseball or a touchdown in football. We learn about how sports are played and the culture around sports.
We learn in our jobs, too. We learn when we train for new jobs and every day at work. We learn how to do our best at our jobs and how to handle stressful situations.
The answer to the question of whether you truly are done learning after you graduate is more complex than not quite. We learn new skills and learn more about current skills every single day. We learn more about things were are interested in, every day in every way. The education may be finished, but learning goes on forever.
Elephants & Extra Base Hits 