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Taking the Road Not TakenBy Wendy Croix
Learning & Life Columnist
You've got a great life, but something's nagging in the back of your mind. It's that path you wanted to take, but didn't. It's the fork in the road you bypassed on the way to where you are today. Did you secretly want to be a...
- Philosopher. You don't have to suffer the fate of Socrates to enter the fascinating world of philosophy. If you can't tell your cogito from your ergo sum, but you'd like to, then philosophy is your true path. Ethics and aesthetics, mind and metaphysics. Or how about world religions? Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in a single class is not only an interesting prospect, but can help you better understand our global similarities and differences.
- Bookstore owner. If you secretly long to immerse yourself in stories, an online course in literature will scratch the million little itches you've had over the years. Learn about plots and characterization; debate the great themes of human experience. Since you'll be exploring these books under the guidance of a professional wise in the ways of literary reading, you'll never be confused about the difference between a novel and a memoir.
- Memoirist (or journalist, stringer, or columnist). Take a first step into the world of writing with an online class. You'll learn to research, read critically, analyze sources, and use them in your own writing. Take a writing class, and you unleash your inner freelancer.
- Shaman. If you secretly want to be Joseph Campbell, Castaneda's guide Don Juan, or Obi-Wan Kenobi, you can follow your mythic path to a class in world mythology. See how the world begins and ends, celebrate the lives of heroes, encounter dangerous deities, and find archetypes in your personal and social relations.
With these online classes, you can silence your nagging imagination by giving it a taste of whatever it is you're longing for and think that you can't have. And you won't have to disrupt the road you did take to do it.
Sources:
- "Online learning just for fun of it," by Lisa M. Sodders. (L.A.) Daily News (Nov 25, 2005).
- "Serious fun." Civilization 4.2 (Apr/May 1997).
- "Serious play," by Dale Mann. Teachers College Record 97.3 (Spr 1996).
About the Author
Wendy Croix, Ph.D. is a freelance writer, cultural critic and university professor. In her twenty years as a professional educator, Wendy has guided hundreds of students toward the careers of their dreams.
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