Aging concerns and education (55, moving, community, state)

[happypants 3235]

I hate to be a whiner, but . . .I want to up my technology skills at a community college in another state, but that would require moving (which is a huge pain, of course), and by the time I had taken the coursework I need (to support my entrepreneurship activities), I'd be in my early '70's!

I guess I'd like to hear about others who have gone down this road.

[NeonGecko]

Be careful - many community colleges do not get the respect of employers, and often for very good reason. What kind of tech skills do you have now, degrees, etc, and what are you looking to "upgrade" to?

[brava4]

Gee, where are you that you have to move to an entirely new state to get some education??

[happypants 3235]

Originally Posted by NeonGecko

Be careful - many community colleges do not get the respect of employers, and often for very good reason. What kind of tech skills do you have now, degrees, etc, and what are you looking to "upgrade" to?

As I stated, I'm an entrepreneur, so I own my own business. Not even a marginal interest in working for anyone. Have two degrees in the subject area of the products I'm selling, but no training in business, programming, web design. I'm self-taught in those areas. Doing okay but could do a lot better.

[happypants 3235]

Originally Posted by brava4

Gee, where are you that you have to move to an entirely new state to get some education??

The community college offers all sorts of technical courses in web design, programming, international business, entrepreneurship, web security, data management, and the tuition is very reasonable. There are several universities where I live, and a couple of community colleges, but none of them offer this same coursework.

[happypants 3235]

It would take about five years, but here is a list of courses I would like to take which would support my current business:

BA 1115 - Web Business
BA 2100 - Basics of Global Business
BA 2104 - Entrepreneurship in a Global Setting
BA 2220 - Web Marketing
BA 2221 - Global Marketing
BA 2222 - Principles of Marketing
BA 2244 - Legal Issues in E-Commerce
BA2120 Financing an Import/Export business
BA2121 Basics of Importing
BA2122 Basics of Exporting
ARTS 1121 - Two-Dimensional Design
CIS 1210 - JavaScript Web Programming I
CIS 1310 - Introduction to Digital Media
CIS 1330 - Photoshop
CIS 1513 - Database Design and Introduction to SQL
CIS 1713 - Web Publishing
CIS 1715 - Overview of Web Technologies
CIS 1730 - JavaScript Web Programming II
CIS 1750 - PHP Web Programming
CIS 2310 - Page Layout and Design
CIS 2336 - Post Production Special Effects
CIS 2340 - Dreamweaver
CIS 2351 - Digital Media Delivery Applications
CIS 2355 - Adobe Illustrator
CIS 2360 - Digital Video Editing
CIS 2375 - Digital Design Studio
CIS 2381 - Advanced Photoshop
CIS 2740 - Cascading Style Sheets
CIS 2760 - Web Metrics
CIS 2761 - Web Widgets
CIS 2762 - Search Engine Optimization

CyberSecurity- Post degree certification (18 hrs.)

ACCT 1109 - Business Math
ACCT 1111 - Accounting IA
ACCT 1112 - Accounting IB
ACCT 1140 - Accounting Applications
ACCT 1210 - Accounting II
ACCT 1410 - Quickbooks Complete

[happypants 3235]

People who don't like school would probably say, why would you put yourself through all that expense and aggravation. That's fine for them, but I love school, and I think it would be wonderful to interact with young people, the teachers, and any old farts like me who happen to be there. Right now I'm exceedingly bored and lonely and I feel my life is stale and unproductive.

[NeonGecko]

If you are 65 or older, most universities have reduced rates for seniors to take classes. You won't get credit - but it sounds like you aren't interested in credit. In fact some colleges offer this at lower ages than 65, you'd have to check.

I would suggest a course of self-study mixed with online seminars and classes at your local college. A lot of the stuff on your list is basically "how to use" a software package. You can get that sort of training almost anywhere without having to pull up stakes and move to another state.

You can also find out what books are required for those classes, and just get the books and work through them on your own. I don't see anything on there that should actually require sitting-your-butt-in-a-chair class time, especially if you fill it out with online information and asking for help when you're stuck on the appropriate forum.

The math and accounting courses will have some kind of equivalent available through your local college.

Here is a reputable online source for classes on a wide variety of subjects. All free to boot.

[loveautumn]

since you are self employed (work from home a lot), it sounds like you're looking for more interaction with people than you're now getting and turning to school to satisfy that, which isn't a bad idea. But to move to another state to accomplish this? Unless you really don't like where you live right now. And a lot can happen between 65-70 as far as how much ambition you will still have! You could also advertise for someone locally to tutor you in a couple of those subjects and see how it goes. I mean, QuickBooks, accounting and business math could certainly be learned right where you are. Also, maybe seek other activities that aren't work related that might fulfill you socially. It's OK not to be productive every minute of the day

[oddstray]

Online was the first thought I had. It seems rather extreme, especially nowadays, to move to a different state to access technical courses.

If you don't start now, you'll be even older than your 70's by the time you finish! Don't procrastinate too much ...