Comments

• Boogie Heaven Host

  March 21

  I'm a very quick thinker, good at making connections, observing things that others miss and making people laugh.
  
  Maybe I should have a go at stand-up comedy?
  
  But I'm an exceedingly slow learner, which tends to put me off doing another degree.
  
  I've looked into it, but Open University fees are pretty steep.
  
  There are many things I'm interested in. I think maybe Horticulture would be my subject of choice at the moment.
• Doublethink Admin, 8th Day Host

  March 21

  I would definitely have tried to become a historian if I hadn’t gone into my current profession. I might consider serious additional study post retirement.
• mark_in_manchester Shipmate

  March 21

  Ecclesiastes 12:12 was the front-piece of the last big bit of study I ever did. I still have occasional dreams about not getting around to finishing it (I finished it in late '99...) and I think it might take rather a lot to persuade me to embark on anything new!
  
  More worryingly - I am 55 years old and my short-term memory is absolutely fecked. I really struggle to learn new things at work, where there is generally not very much pressure at all. I am impressed that there are people here who might consider starting anything requiring the kind of feats of memory that we might have been capable of in our 20s and 30s.
  
  
  
• Heavenlyannie Shipmate

  March 21 edited March 21

  Open University fees are slightly lower than trad UK universities, I think. The big price hike was made around 2012 as they lost their government subsidy when part time students were admitted into the student loan system (before that OU students couldn’t get student loans; when I started my first OU degree in 1990 I paid for it from my wages as a nurse whilst students at trad universities weren’t paying any fees).
  
  I wanted to be an English teacher but in the 1980s people from my background didn’t go to university. I wasn’t even allowed to go to college for A levels as my parents wanted me to get a job and contribute to the family rent. So I worked in a care home on a youth training scheme instead. I assume if I had gone to a traditional uni then it would have been to study English Literature.
  I studied my first degree part time while working full time as a nurse. It was a combined degree of Sociology, English Literature and Health Studies (as there was no OU health degree in those days) and I have done a second degree in History since then. It is history that I have really fallen in love with. I am lucky enough to be in a position where I can study for free; I am about to finish a masters in early modern history and I am considering a masters in classical studies next year. I use study as therapy for my bipolar disorder, it gives me a safe focus for my overactive mind.
• Heavenlyannie Shipmate

  March 21

  To add to my previous post, history is actually a great complement to health studies. Not only is it useful for forming a historical context for current policy and practice (for instance, we do the history of the NHS on the public health course I teach, and ancient beliefs and practice on the death studies course) but it is excellent for building skills in research and critical analysis.
  In my case I also use my health expertise for my history research. My current dissertation is about developments in eighteenth century psychiatry.
• Nick Tamen Shipmate

  March 21

  Boogie wrote: »

  @Gramps49's comment on another thread -

  And, to Lamb Chops point for seminarians to have a degree in something besides religion. Amen. Wished I had. I probably would have gone into something like geology. It is one of my advocations.

  
  Made me think -
  
  What do you wish you had studied?
  
  Why don't you start now?

  I studied exactly what I wanted to, and what I’d still choose: music. Then I went straight to law school and practiced law for 35 years. I’ve viewed retirement as my chance to go back to a focus on music and related disciplines.
  
  I have pondered the possibility of working on something like a Masters in Liturgical Studies, but so far I haven’t found a program that would fit my various needs (location, cost, etc.)
  
  
  
• Lamb Chopped Shipmate

  March 21

  I want to study the muscle systems of the body, with particular attention to malfunctions (muscle knots, strains, etc.) and ways a layperson could help deal with those (probably mostly massage). I'm meditating exactly what the best approach would be.
  
  And yes, I'm planning to do this because of my own problems and right now, because of my husband's--because every freaking year, gardening season starts up, and he overdoes things, and for a couple of weeks he's convinced that he has a life-threatening disorder of some sort. Because pain, which is a thing he is mostly unacquainted with. Grrrrrrr.
• Jengie Jon Shipmate

  March 21

  I am a polymath, with degrees in mathematics, sociology and theology. Wish I had had the courage when I was younger to not be put off by the notion that for people like us, certain things were out of bounds. Only discovered when I was doing my Doctorate (theology) that I loved Social Anthropology. How I would have coped with such a word-based subject back then, I do not know, but maybe my love of the subject would have got me to learn to write essays earlier.
• fineline Shipmate, Host Emeritus

  March 21

  Back when OU courses were much cheaper, I did quite a few of them, because while English literature was my main love and what I had studied at uni, there were lots of other subjects I wanted to learn about, particularly maths and science subjects. Since OU courses became a lot more expensive, I find free online courses. I once found a fascinating free set of psychology lectures from MIT, audiorecordings - the lecturer was brilliant. Other audio lectures I found weren't so engaging. I find the quality of free educational stuff can vary quite a bit - I've found some really good stuff though. These days I like learning Italian. YouTube videos can be very educational - I follow a few Italian ones, and I also really like Geoff Lindsey's videos on linguistics and phonetics. And I always like finding lectures on literature. Fatigue and lack of self-organisation skills are what stop me learning all the things I'd like to learn.
• mousethief Shipmate

  March 21

  I might have been an English major. Which I did something about -- I went back to school and got an MA in English Lit about 3 years ago (at age 61). Applied to a PhD program but wasn't accepted.
• Puzzler Shipmate

  March 21

  I did a degree in French ( more skills than knowledge) with Theology as a new 3 year subsidiary subject because I was interested it and it was a very useful additional teaching subject.
  After retirement I trained and obtained my certificate at Citizens Advice. It suited me well, not only fulfilling a need to help others, but I am a good listener, can quickly focus on what is needed and look up, apply and communicate the relevant information, then write it up succinctly. The key is that you don’t actually need to remember the detailed information - just as well as I don’t retain the detail.
  I did this for almost 15 years. I have done enough learning, though I enjoy mastering new pieces of music to sing.
• Aravis Shipmate

  March 21

  I did a degree in English Lit in the 1980s, then a teaching qualification, then started a part time degree in occupational therapy in 1997. I’m approaching retirement from OT* now and have started a part time masters in theology, which is stretching my brain considerably. Research methods are the most difficult aspect for me; I’m not used to journals being online, or having to sign declarations about exactly what forms of AI I might have used (preferably none, but it’s becoming remarkably difficult to avoid).
  
  Between theology assignments I’m trying to read The Hobbit in Welsh, which is also a considerable challenge.
  
  (*Occupational Therapy in this case - though on my new course OT usually stands for Old Testament!)