Want to Get Some Piece of the Action? Get That Education
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Stake your own claim to success
You go out to try stake a claim to some kind of life and you say, oh a lot of opportunities there are indeed in the world and they are sauntering about in their suits, stilettos and sweet smiles. Some come in their flashy cars bringing flashy gadgets. They make you drool and issue wishes in the air.
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Opportunities here, opportunities there
Opportunities clad in different wondrous garbs come and wheeze by and you are left stuck in your place — definitely not going anywhere. You wish you had that degree, that certificate, that diploma, that training. You wish you had studied better or taken the time to learn a skill. And oh, how you wish you simply had the time and energy to go back to “school.”
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Rather too late now?
Isn’t it rather too late now? I’m already quite old and I have my job and one and many other tasks, you almost weep.
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As shallow as it may seem, some people who never had some higher education or had but did not get to graduate silently acknowledge that although it’s not really that deep a resentment, it would have been great if they were able to experience what a lot of people have, like cram for exams, beat deadlines, fret over the thesis completion and defense or the dissertation and finally strut up there on the stage in complete graduation regalia and be conferred that honor of being called a graduate or having successfully finished something potentially life-changing.
Or maybe it’s just me. I have taken two courses, one in Accountancy, the other in Education, but I didn’t get to graduate in either.
So, I wish I had.
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Build discipline and flower
Somehow, the whole process of getting a higher education or any education for that matter leaves a different kind of imprint in those who have gone through it. All along that reading, writing, listening, speaking out, and doing in classes, some kind of discipline is bred even in the terribly undisciplined ones, or a sort of flowering or maturing, if you may, happens. At the very least, you do get to acquire more knowledge. But going to a school simply for knowledge is always never the point, I suppose. It’s school and all of its other over-arching dimensions.
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So, you have all those wishes
But wish no more! Education, formal and non-formal, has never been more accessible than it is today. Governments and even non-governmental organizations, including leading institutions for learning the world over have created initiatives that aim to make education available for all. For indeed education is one of the ways we can fight the social iniquities, prejudice and discrimination still prevalent in our world. It is a potent tool for self-empowerment and, of course, progress. And the world as it is shaping now needs more empowered and forward-looking people.
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And but of course, that can also be YOU.
You start taking charge of your life. Decide to improve and accept that you’re not doing yourself any justice by not doing anything or by settling with what you have now. You definitely deserve better. Learn that skill, get that knowledge, that degree, that certificate, that diploma, if not through traditional means, through distance or online learning! This may indeed be the first step that will marry you to your much dreamed of success or better opportunities.
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What is Distance Learning?
Distance Learning allows students to learn from anywhere anytime usually through technological media like the web. Universities offering distance education are often called “Open Universities”. Their very basic principle, aligned with their goal of providing learning opportunities to as many people as possible, is also that of having more “open” admissions, less tight than the usual admissions process of the traditional universities.
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More on Open Universities
Even the elite universities are putting up “Open Universities” now, opening their doors to those who otherwise could not get in for reasons like geographical distance, health limitations, financial constraints, among other challenges that students usually have trying to attend on-campus classes. You can also depend on the fact that the standard of teaching delivered by these Open Universities and their programs on the whole is just as good as that in their residential classes.
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Bloom amidst the diversity
The demographics of open universities are mixed. You can have a classmate as young as 17 or as old as a 50-year-old mom. A co-learner can be based in China, the UK, the Middle East or even in some remote prison or home. Some you will learn have physical disabilities or health limitations. The nationalities can vary. Some may already be professionals in other fields, the others are first-time university students. From that varied mix of learners alone, you are bound to see perspectives and hear of experiences that will greatly enrich your own.
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Relish the freedom
There also are deadlines, it has its own demands, and you may have to read a lot (and try to understand what you’re reading on your own first); otherwise, the gears and the whole drive are totally in your hands.
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Have a mind full of good stuff
So, there’s the formal type of online education, and there’s Google and YouTube, my online schools of choice. There I go again, I’m making it too much about myself again, but what I am trying to say is, we can get educated and add other good dimensions of ourselves in many ways now.
Have a mind filled with wonderful things (from which nothing but a good heart and good deeds will gush forth), mine the internet!
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Reap the rewards!
In no time at all you will know how it is to have graduated or seen a training program through to the end and gained a new skill set or a brand new heart. Your completion may not have the usual graduation ceremony but the feeling for sure will be the same. And then on, you too will get your share or a bigger share of the pie and you will then say, “Why did I ever think it’s too late?”
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