#YouthMonth: Do's and don'ts to consider for lifelong learning
This is my story about why I love lifelong learning. I completed my official tertiary studies over a decade ago. My study story is probably similar to that of most – suddenly school’s coming to an end and you don’t really have any idea what you want to study at tertiary level.
This is how that next scary part went for me – how I directed “The Rest of My Life”:
Do what you love
I’d always enjoyed writing, so a journalism degree was the obvious choice. I’d chosen psychology as my second major, though I ended up enjoying the undergrad psychology content so much, I decided to focus on that for my honours year. I passed well and was ready to enter the world of work. But one does not simply study psychology to honours level then start working in the field (sob), so instead, I fell back on my first love – journalism.
As a strong motivator for lifelong learning, it makes sense to pursue something you love. If you work in online marketing, it makes sense to learn more about social media advertising. If you’re in sales, it makes sense to learn about the customer purchasing journey. But. It doesn’t make sense to spend time and money on something you don’t actually enjoy. Choose wisely!
Don’t back down from a challenge
I started out in community newspapers, then lifestyle magazines, then hopped into media monitoring and B2B publishing before I switched back to hard news reporting, and found a passion for the immediacy of all things digital. But journalism had changed since then. Today, journalism means you’re constantly on the go, adding bits, refining others.
You’re skimming Google Alerts, scrolling through Facebook feeds for user-generated breaking news, embedding tweets, cropping images, overlaying logos, getting someone else to scan for typos and finally pressing ‘publish’ – often all in the space of an hour.A few of my favourite sites for staying up to date with current trends and changes in the digital sphere are: Mashable, Moz, TrendWatching, SmartInsights and We are Social Media.
This gives you agility and opens more opportunities than if you were “standing still,” so to speak.
Do learn everything you can
Much of that on-the-job training is based on just one aspect of a computer program, but I didn’t want to keep asking ‘the experts’ how to do other bits and pieces. I wanted to know it all. And so I decided to upskill myself.
Do consider your options
I did online short courses through a number of institutions on those cutting-edge skills I need to do the job better – advanced sub-editing, mastering more than just cropping in Photoshop, the overly technical aspects of SEO, digital marketing, social media marketing, principles of human-centred design to love the life you live (the last one completed over a weekend) – and there will doubtless be more to come, as technological change demands a change in the way we work, which doesn’t always come naturally.
Education is no longer limited to a students-in-a-classroom approach. Thanks to the internet and various formats available, you can educate yourself in many different ways: workshops, online courses, masterclasses and talks by trailblazers.
The options are there. Don’t limit yourself.
Do find new ways to think (creatively)
Thinking back over my career so far, it’s the small things I’ve learned along the way that have had the biggest impact.
Formal lectures may have set me up for the real-world, but nothing beats being a sponge and learning new ways to be better at what you do.Red & Yellow is widely known for the framed picture that says “I am a sponge” which hangs in the entrance of the Cape Town campus. It is the quintessential phrase that speaks to lifelong learning.
And as you learn, you teach others. I've done this throughout my career by writing about what I've gleaned from each learning experience, and also by taking the plunge and presenting a webinar.
Albert Einstein himself said: “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” So hopefully, I have a long way to go.
Read more links
I won’t regurgitate others’ lists for you, as you can Google them yourself – but here are a few starters to motivate you and fire that passion:
- 10 ways lifelong learning will benefit your personal success
- 5 key benefits of lifelong learning
- What we learn about lifelong learning from children
*Originally commissioned by Red & Yellow school, visit their Press Office for the latest updates!
About Leigh Andrews
Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews.
