Would you ever go to college again? (friendly, state, retiree)

[animalcrazy]

I have no desire to sit in a classroom. I retired at 58 and vowed to spend all of my free time on nothing but fun for the rest of my life. I'm selling off the rentals because they're too much work. I will take another upholstery class maybe next February. Right now, I'm too busy with other projects to think about it, let alone sit in a classroom.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by SoCal_Native

Ya but...Chances are you can get all that information easily on YouTube and attending a class just for that one benefit to ask an occasional (if ever) question seems like a huge price to pay. I wouldn't have written this before the internet - even with libraries available. YouTube makes learning anything so easy.

IMO, Youtube is great for:
-- DIY-type things: "how do I get that spark plug out of that location where neither my fingers nor a spark plug socket fit?" and "how to use a torch to solder a jewelry bezel" and "how do I build a CNC platform for my plasma cutter?"
-- Infotainment: the spouse likes to watch a Youtube channel in which a Gulf war tank commander goes around to war museums in the world and sits in the actual tanks and talks about how the tank worked, where the people sat, what they did, the strengths and weaknesses of the tank, etc. I watch Pickleball Channel to see tournaments and individual pickleball coaching tips.

but it isn't as good for academic topics.

Compare, say, classes on the history of the Reconstruction period after the Civil War. You can get individual short video snippets on Youtube, some from pretty questionable sources. Compare that to a 10 week class, 2-3 hour a week, complete with outside reading, taught by someone who thoroughly understands the period. If I want to understand something, I want to understand it, not surf it.

[CatwomanofV]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

IMO, Youtube is great for:
-- DIY-type things: "how do I get that spark plug out of that location where neither my fingers nor a spark plug socket fit?" and "how to use a torch to solder a jewelry bezel" and "how do I build a CNC platform for my plasma cutter?"
-- Infotainment: the spouse likes to watch a Youtube channel in which a Gulf war tank commander goes around to war museums in the world and sits in the actual tanks and talks about how the tank worked, where the people sat, what they did, the strengths and weaknesses of the tank, etc. I watch Pickleball Channel to see tournaments and individual pickleball coaching tips.

but it isn't as good for academic topics.

Compare, say, classes on the history of the Reconstruction period after the Civil War. You can get individual short video snippets on Youtube, some from pretty questionable sources. Compare that to a 10 week class, 2-3 hour a week, complete with outside reading, taught by someone who thoroughly understands the period. If I want to understand something, I want to understand it, not surf it.

This isn't necessarily so. There was one teacher at my college who was a TERRIBLE teacher. Unfortunately, I had to take 2 classes with her over 4 years and I could have taught the classes better than she could. Also unfortunate, she was my advisor. I have seen her from time to time after I graduated and she just LOVES me.


Cat

[davebarnes]

For me, no.
But, only because the cost in Colorado is too high. A 3-credit course at a community college is about $600.

[AlaskaErik]

Originally Posted by Fran66

What is the matter with you people???? I'm with Stealth Rabbit. I have only one degree, but I've been taking college classes all my adult life. I start again in September (at age 70). I'm going only to our local CC, and I'm taking only a couple of tech classes to help me stay 'current' with computer tech. Still and anyway -- I love being on campus, learning new stuff, getting to know the kids (who treat me like I'm fragle! LOL), being the oldest on in class, by far. LOLOL What is there not to love about education and college???

There's nothing wrong with me. Been there, done that, got the sheepskin. There are plenty of ways to get an education without being on campus. The college of today is nothing like the college of yesteryear that I went to. Back then, it was about getting an education. Today it's more about indoctrination, intolerance and silencing any speech deemed to be politically incorrect, i.e., conservative. I would never fit in in today's politically charged and hostile environment.

[lottamoxie]

I loved college and loved grad school too. I would go back to college anytime -- to take classes that interest me, not to get a degree, since I don't need or want another one. Lifelong learning is cool!

[ChessieMom]

Originally Posted by Azureth

I know this is retirement, but is there any situation wherein you'd go to college again? And how would you feel about it?

I'd love to!!

[xPlorer48]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

I don't see it happening, but ya never know.

I didn't graduate from college to begin with. I went to secretarial school and later when I was working went to night school for a while, but in order to seriously pursue a degree program, I had to get past a basic algebra exam, meaning demonstrate that I could do what we were supposed to learn in high school, and I cannot learn algebra. That part of my brain just does not work.

I even took a non-credit remedial class that cost me the same as if I were getting three credits, but it doesn't stay. I would walk out of class thinking I understood, but by the time I got home and looked at homework, it was gone. It was as if I was trying to understand ancient hieroglyphics. Actually, that's probably a bad analogy, because I likely would have been able to learn heiroglyphics, lol.

Got A's in everything else. Literature, Accounting, Psychology, Business Law. Cannot understand Algebra. Once I realized I would never be able to get a degree without that, I became discouraged and quit going to night school. It's OK. I had a decent career and after time, no one realized I didn't have the education I was supposed to have for my job. My assistant manager, who replaced me when I retired, has a J.D.

I bought a used math book a few years ago from a street vendor, thinking that in retirement I might try to tackle it again because it has always bothered me that I couldn't learn something. I might dust it off one of these days.

Me, too. That darn Algebra II. I was in honors classes and am a whiz at simple arithmetic. I still do not use a calculator. But, second year Algebra was a hard one. My only C in high school. I think it has to do with order of operations. As a right brainer, I do poorly with sequential items of more than 3 or 4. I have to write down steps to do complex tasks. Photoshop or any of the Adobe Suite are maddening in their insistence upon numerous ways to perform the same action. Marketing people won out over the engineers is what a professor told me.

[marino760]

Originally Posted by Fran66

What is the matter with you people???? I'm with Stealth Rabbit. I have only one degree, but I've been taking college classes all my adult life. I start again in September (at age 70). I'm going only to our local CC, and I'm taking only a couple of tech classes to help me stay 'current' with computer tech. Still and anyway -- I love being on campus, learning new stuff, getting to know the kids (who treat me like I'm fragle! LOL), being the oldest on in class, by far. LOLOL What is there not to love about education and college???

Not everyone is like you. I didn't love going to college 40 years ago, and that hasn't changed. Why would I force myself to sit in a class room when I could be doing other things that I enjoy? I don't get any kind of thrill or happiness being on a campus nor would I feel special or younger. I don't like deadlines, doing homework and feeling obligated to be in class on a certain day at a certain time.
I'm glad you enjoy doing what you do, but don't think for a minute everyone needs to be like you or be less of a person in some way or need to be in a classroom to find happiness.

[oldgardener]

Online, sure...MIT OpenCourseWare, quantum mechanics in particular. Having more time to learn is part of retirement for me.

But get up in the morning and drive to class? No.