When some people think back on their school days, they remember fantastic times, surrounded by friends, summer parties, homecomings, and all the excitement that school brought.
Others look back and remember bullying, always being picked last for sports, and the woefully inadequate IT departments. For the latter, the very idea of continuing education might fill you with dread. But have no fear, online learning is here!
There are many benefits to continuing your education through an online or correspondence platform; for example, Fresno Pacific University (https://ce.fresno.edu/), is Central Valley’s only accredited Christian University.
The main benefit is that you have the time to complete your course when you can, and the headspace to learn at your own pace, rather than in a classroom setting on someone else’s schedule.
Education For Everyone
Continuing education is not only for sporty high school graduates either. The popularity of online learning has increased over the last few years, opening up to people from all walks of life and all educational backgrounds. And with so many courses on offer, many adults are now rediscovering their love of learning.
Here are three reasons to consider continuing your education that you will absolutely love.
1. Higher Education Opens Doors
Continuing your education can open many new doors for you, and not just on the career path either. With many courses now offered that have less of a traditional academic feel to them (like photography, film, art, creative writing, etc.) there are possibilities to build a social life around your new-found skills.
If you have a qualification in creative writing, for example, joining a local creative writing or even script writing group could prove a lot of fun and you may even find some job prospects out of it.
2. Increase Your Career Prospects
Perhaps the most obvious benefit to continuing your education is to boost your career prospects. With many more jobs now expecting higher level of education (bachelor’s, master’s, or even doctorates in some cases) being committed to your education will put you in a good light with future employers.
Figures estimate that employees who are committed to continued education can earn around $655,000 more than their peers over the course of their careers.
3. Feeding A Thirst For Knowledge
Fair warning here, education and the pursuit of knowledge have been proven to be highly addictive. It’s a benefit that lies within all of us: that curiosity breeds curiosity.
There’s some solid science behind this fact. The body’s reward system enjoys novelty (new things), and when it’s fed, it feeds the brain with dopamine, a highly addictive substance colloquially known as “the pleasure chemical”.
Dopamine is a neurochemical that gets released when we are happy, when we find something new or interesting. In order for our brains to stay focused on the topic and maintain interest, it rewards us with a nice little hit of dopamine to keep us coming back for more. The more learning you do, the more dopamine you get!
Featured photo by Good Free Photos on Unsplash.
