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Adult Continuing Education and Youthful Living After 40

by: Bill Platt
There are two kinds of people in life: those who continue learning well past the last ringing of the high school class bell, and those who are trudging through life praying for retirement.

In my own life, 40 has finally arrived. Am I old? No. Should I feel old? Why?

School is twenty years in the past for myself, and yet, everyday is a learning experience for me. I am still learning astronomy and engineering from The Science Channel, and I am engaged in a daily pursuit of learning to be a better computer programmer.

I was one of those unlucky soles in that I graduated from high school in 1983. My choice career since 1979 was that of a computer programmer. In 1983, when I entered college, I was stoked. I was going after my dream to be a computer programmer.

Unfortunately, I was relegated to gaining my education from a two-year college, whose computer science teacher chose to live in the past. The college that was close to my home was my starting point in my college career, and they were stuck in the technologies of the 1960’s and 1970’s.

While in high school, I had been privileged enough to be able to have Personal Computers in the classroom. I was able to be schooled in computer programming on TRS-80’s (fondly called Trash 80’s by those who used them) and on the first Apple Computers to enter the marketplace.

The writing was on the wall. The future of computer programming was in the personal computer market. Yet, our instructor would only teach us Fortran, an already dying language. (By the mid- to late-1980’s, nearly every major business had done away with those massive mainframe computers that relied upon the Fortran operating system.)

It was a very frustrating time in my life. I left college, disillusioned in the fact that I could not learn the kind of programming that I wanted to do in my life.

Move forward eleven years into the future. It was 1994 and Windows 3.11 was the computer operating system of choice. Now, that was a long time ago.

In 1994, I hooked myself up with my first personal computer, and then began the self-teaching process. In 2001, I began teaching computer programming to students who were paying for Adult Continuing Education courses as our local vo-tech.

For me, programming is an everyday learning experience. This past weekend, I was finally able to break through in my understanding of a concept that I had previously had a lot of problems in comprehending.

It was two days past my 40th birthday, and I had a major learning breakthrough. Even at 40, I am still young in heart and mind.

If I were to contribute only one thing to my youthful feelings that would be the fact that even at 40, I find time in my day to learn new things.

Are you continuing your education, or are you among the poor folks who are praying for time to race by so that you may enter into retirement? (the average person lives only 3 years past retirement. why should you be racing to the grave? instead, contemplate the possibility of racing to a life worth living…)

Adult Continuing Education is a worthwhile endeavor, whether you are 25, 40 or 85. Please endeavor yourself to learn something new today. You will feel much better once you have done so.

About the author:
Bill Platt is a contributing writer at http://InvisibleMBA.com. The Invisible MBA is a website concerned only with any and all information that will help you to get an education and to turn that education into a viable career. Bill has been involved with Article Marketing since 1999. Let him put his experience to work for you at: http://thePhantomWriters.com

An Online Degree Can Work For You

by: Graham Fielding
Many large universities now offer the opportunity to learn and obtain a degree online. Some will offer additional support such as advice online, student associations and newspapers.

Studying for an online degree is an excellent choice for many reasons and for people in a range of circumstances. You can work to your own flexible schedule and today there is a very wide range of subjects on offer. An online degree can give you respect from your work colleagues and bosses.

You can obtain an online degree in the fields of business, healthcare, education, law and others. Depending on the subject area, there are numerous levels of achievement, from a certificate of completion, an associate’s degree or even
a bachelors or masters degree. Certificates, associates and bachelors degrees require no previous college education. A masters degree, however, requires at least a bachelors degree prior to enrollment.

Depending on the type of online degree you want, the course work can take as little as six months to complete. For higher degrees or fields of intense study, the course work can take up to four years to complete. Most online law degrees take at least four years to finish.

Getting an online degree is more flexible for you than getting a degree from a traditional, on-site college. You can complete it over a period of time to a schedule that
fits your particular needs. You can study at night, on the weekends or even over your lunch hour. Plus, you can devote as many or as few hours a week to your studies as you choose to, finishing as quickly as you need. Most people devote at least twenty hours a week to their course work.

Secondly, an online degree is a self-paced program meaning that you can work as long on a particular session or lesson as you need. This means that you can take extra time on the more difficult classes without getting behind in your studies.

With today’s competitive work environment and extra long working hours, an online degree is the perfect solution if you wish to further your career. So whether you need to take classes on your schedule, obtain your degree in record time, or you just want the high level of education provided by an online degree, the Internet is a great place to go get yourself an online degree.

About the author:
Graham Fielding writes extensively on the subject of online education. Discover the many benefits of obtaining an online degree at http://www.all-about-online-degrees.info

A New Way To Learn: Online

by: Samuel Murray
Many of the most universities in the country are realizing that no everyone can attend regular classes to obtain a college education. As a result almost all of them offer distance learning programs that allow students from anywhere in the country to get a university education and even get an online degree.

There are many barriers to overcome in order to get a college education. They range from cost to motivation to accessibility. Many young people and their families simply cannot afford to pay the tens of thousands of dollars that is necessary in a regular degree program. Others live in remote areas of the country that make it impossible to attend college without major support and subsidies.

Distance learning allows them to overcome many of these challenges by connecting to the school of their choice through the Internet and enrolling in online degree granting programs in their field of choice. They can get a college education and still help out on the farm at home or they can work to support themselves during the day and take online classes at night.

These types of programs have transformed the higher education landscape almost overnight. Many millions of American kids will follow their college dreams right after high school, but they are now being joined in the academic world by military veterans, housewives, and thousands of other people who want a second chance at living out their dream.

Distance learning has democratized the higher education system in this country and it doesnt matter now how much money your family has or what stage of life you choose to continue your education. An online degree from a reputable and accredited program is worth just as much as if you went to that school for four years right after high school.

If you could picture an online classroom you would see a wide range of ages and life experiences sitting at their home computer, engaged in the pursuit of an online degree. Their enthusiasm to learn is just as great as those who sit in a regular classroom or lecture hall at the university. But what may strike you the most is that these people who are studying for an online degree have a zeal for learning and a motivation to get ahead that any university professor would love to see in his much younger class. These people desperately want to get their college education and distance learning will help them get there.

About the author:
This article courtesy of http://www.schoolguideusa.com