If there is one thing I have learned, it’s that the real world is different than school. Now, I don’t mean the pain of having bills, choices, being on your own, or holding a job. Those exist, but I expected them and prepared for them. What I mean is this:
My only memories of life are of my school years. I have had a mindset of taking classes and learning new things for 18 years!
Not being in school has been a bizarre and unexpected transition. It leaves me feeling empty at times. It leaves me feeling bored.
What can I possibly do to keep learning? I started to tackle this question a bit in another article.
But I want to talk candidly for a moment and go a bit deeper than that article. Let’s walk into the realm of the unknown. In this article, I’m talking about what I am learning, want to learn, and how I want to grow in this season of life.
Because my mind is still stuck in a school mindset, I will divide my different life into different majors. I am a triple major in life.
I am majoring in my Spritual Life, Work, and Hobbies.
Spiritual Life Major
My relationship with God is always growing. I have a good grasp on that by being involved in church, discipleship groups, and Bible studies. I would say this semester I am taking two main courses for my spiritual life.
- Acts and the Life of Paul
- Discipleship
Work Major
In work, my main class right now is Performance. Let me explain that a bit before you jump to conclusions.
I work in software development. So I don’t mean performance as in “job performance”, I mean that I am speeding up the performance of our software. That is my main project and job right now.
Hobbies Major
Hobbies are where things get interesting. The other two areas of life were carried over from the school phase of life. I have always had a relationship with God that prospered and grew, and I have always worked.
One big change now that I am out of school and have a job is money. I can actually spend money on hobbies!
I love woodworking; it brings an intense peace and satisfaction working with your hands like that, letting your creativity out, and creating something new. During my school phase, I was forced to use borrowed or broken tools to do this. Now that I have a job I can actually afford cool tools to expand my woodworking skills!
I love mountain biking too! I can finally afford a real bike. I no longer have to ride a “mediocre” bike that is two sizes too small!
The trouble with hobbies is that my interests cast a wide net. I have to be careful not to spread myself too thin. I have to pick and choose. I don’t like doing that. So one class I am learning this semester is: How to Say No. That’s the one I’m doing the worst in this semester.
Other hobby classes I’m taking are Mountain Biking 101, Recovery 101 (because I broke my collar bone in one of my Mountain Biking homework assignments), and Nutrition 101. I would love to take a Woodworking class and maybe some Solo Coding classes, but they might have to wait until next semester. My Recovery class has been a lot more work than I thought.
Of recent, I added one more class to my roster: Writing. It is a blast! Better than any English class I have ever had!
On a more real note, I talk a bit in another article of how I stayed away from writing for years, assuming I was terrible, and not realizing how much I enjoyed it.
Right now, Writing might be my favorite class in the Hobbies major! I am also thinking about taking on a Fiction Writing class soon, but that seems tough. I audited a Poems 101 class for a bit just to test the waters and enjoyed that too! I only did one project there, but it was a lot of fun! You can check that out here.
That’s it. Those are my classes this semester. It’s a full load. I would say I’m taking close to 100 hours! But they are all enjoyable! They have their moments of despair just like real school, but soon I will look back with joy and humility. This is the trick to the whole thing:
Sometimes you just need to take a class and see if you enjoy it.
Stop worrying so much about whether it is a waste of time; in the wise words of Shia LaBeouf, “JUST DO IT”.
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Previously published on medium
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Talk to you soon.
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