Post-Education Education 101

Well, I've been out of college for a while now, and since I am a dorky and borderline sick individual, I have found myself missing learning. Don't worry, I have a doctor's appointment next month; I'll be sure that a psych eval is part of the checkup. But seriously, I've always had such an insatiable desire to learn more that suddenly going into the workforce and repeating a function is not stimulating enough for me. So one of my new year's resolutions is to experiment with self-teaching. I've got a number of areas to target.

1. Religion

I have said that I was going to do this a hundred freaking times now and this year I'M GONNA DO IT. I was amazed at what I learned in a Religions of Asia course I took at Western (Dr. Samuels, wherever you are, your class was kind of bitchin'). We learned about the Quran, the prophet Mohammad, the perversion of the Muslim faith by biased (and borderline racist) media outlets suggesting bin Laden embodied Islam. There was a quarter devoted to the four noble truths, the eightfold path and the Buddha. Then we threw in the Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, and the sacrificial Purusha Prajapati of Hindu culture.

There are some that would suggest that I compromised my faith in taking this course. I actually had people tell me I had sinned against God for opening another faith's religious text. I assure you that neither happened, and in fact, I came out on the other side more appreciative of Christianity, stronger in my faith, and more understanding and loving to those of other faiths. This process makes me a BETTER PERSON. And I'm back for round two.

2. Finance/Economics

I think I threw up a little bit when I typed that. I HATE economics. HATE. I'm using the word HATE to describe my feeling towards economics. I can keep up with a bank account and balance a checkbook, but whenever I've had a financial question, I've turned to my dad, the finance guru of the family. But as much as I love to rely on his acumen, it's time I became a big boy and did this stuff myself. I'm married now, I have a family, the man's supposed to do this stuff and be good at it. So 401k, stock options, portfolio building here I come, albeit reluctantly......and with extreme nausea.

3. Astronomy

I LOVED astronomy as a small child, or at least the idea of it. Outer space, the vastness of the universe, and the hope that if I learned it well enough I could use a light saber, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, and defeat Darth Vader. When I was in the first grade I would scribble the solar system on sheets of paper and hand them out to the rest of the class as study guides. I even put care into placing the big red spot on Jupiter. I had them drawn out, the sun and the nine planets orbiting them. That's right....NINE. I don't give a crap what they say, Pluto is a planet, dammit! And I'm going back to astronomy class by myself to debunk the 8 planet solar system if it's the last thing I do. So there you have my motivation; astronomy was my childhood ambition and I'm sticking up for the little forgotten planet.

4. P.E.

I don't want to learn 10,000 nutrition facts and recite vitamins and their function. I don't want to go back to middle school gym and do jumping jacks (although I do want to play dodgeball Billy Madison style). None of that is really what I'm talking about. I just REALLY need to get my occasionally lazy ass up and moving. My wife is incredible with hitting the gym for cardio and yoga. I admire her for that, but it's time to stop admiring and time to start imitating.

I want all of these to represent growth spurts of the mind, spirit, and body. A mental and physical exercise to keep sharp, aware, and always growing. I pride myself on trying to broaden my horizons, and these are some exciting steps towards that goal.

So there ya go. Four academic quarters in the year. Four courses. Tomorrow: lesson one. Class is back in session.