Continuing Education

One of the pieces of advice taught by my parents was to always be a lifelong learner. After high school, I went into the military and then used my GI bill to attend college for my undergrad degree in Computer Science and then went on for a master's degree in business administration. During my working years, I attended various technical schools both online and in various campuses across the US.

Now in retirement, I've taken advantage of our local community college offering for individuals that are aged 60 plus to take classes in various subjects including personal enrichment, exploring new hobbies, improving computer skills and delving into academic subjects.

Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC) offers tuition free college classes courses that allow older adults to explore subjects of interest to them in various settings including Face-to-face, remote, hybrid and online curriculums. Under this program, "mature" students are eligible to register for classes tuition free as long as there is available space in a particular program. While the per credit tuition fee is waived, there are a few minor expenses and fees for books and registration that the student is still responsible for, but the overall savings is approximately $450-$500 per 3 credit class with about $150.00 in fees/registration/books per class taken.

To date, I've taken two classes, both 100% online. The first was American Popular Music and the second was Introduction to Literature.

American Popular Music was described as a course dealing with the forms and history of American popular music from its 19th century origins to the present. Subject material includes early song forms, folk music, the Blues, Ragtime, early Jazz, Big Band music, Bebop, Rhythm and Blues, Country and Western, Rock 'n Roll (early phases as well as recent trends), and Musical Theater. Recorded musical examples will be used. Students will be expected to attend at least one performance outside of class and to present a report on an assigned topic in class.

The second course, Introduction to Literature is described as thinking, reading and writing skills through the reading of short stories, novels, poetry, and drama and the writing of analytic and interpretive compositions.

Both classes utilize Canvas Online services with e-book selections and there are numerous assignments and discussions due each week and peer feedback and grading modules with essay submissions as the class goes on.

My honest assessment of these classes so far has been positive and somewhat surprising. I anticipated a "light" version of a university class but have been pleasantly surprised at the depth and thought that went into both courses. There were numerous assignments and readings, plenty of essays and discussions and ways to interact with both the subject matter and my fellow students.

As I anticipated, I was one of the more "senior" members of my class when compared with my fellow students. I was surprised to learn that some of my peers were still in high school but taking online classes to stay ahead of the curve. I found their input into discussions to be quite positive and insightful and contained a youthful exuberance that people seem to temper as they get older.

One of our assignments in the literature class centered around how we research a subject and when I mentioned that I was in the working world before the internet made information so readily available, my fellow students in the class seemed fascinated and wondered how we got anything done in life. I felt VERY OLD that day.

But I enjoy being in a class with such diverse ages and viewpoints. Our class discussions gave me a different perspective on the subject matter at hand, and I absolutely LEARNED a lot during the time spent in class. It is time well spent.

I encourage you to investigate your local community college or some online program if you're not near a university of institute of higher learning. LCCC offers everything from accounting to veterinary tech classes in a variety of instructional methods. I hope that once my current class finishes after this week of jumping into a philosophy or sociology class, I saw that starts in a couple of weeks if scheduling permits.