Straight Outta Class: Why Stop Learning?

If you grew up in the United States, you know school starts when you’re three or four and you finish between 17 to 19 years old. If you want higher education, you may go to college or go directly into the workforce. After graduation from high school, college, or graduate school, people rarely go back to school unless they have a career change, want to explore other hobbies, or just have extra time on their hands – why is that?

It's a preconceived notion (at least, I believed this when I finished grad school) that after college, you will know everything you need to know to get a job in the industry. Of course, that’s the goal of the institutions – to prepare you for a career in your field. However, you receive merely the fundamentals, and you need to rely on “on-the-job training” or additional education to feel comfortable. I’m not stating this as a bad thing, because institutions can’t tailor every program around every student’s career goals – they create programs that can be useful and applied to various career options to maximize interest in degrees and programs.

Some companies may offer courses or classes that you take to learn skills that apply in their specific organization. If you work for yourself, you’re not required to take additional courses, as there’s no governing body other than yourself. This is the exact reason why you should take specialized courses. Why stop after school? There are tons of reputable programs and classes out there where you can learn anything you want (and I don’t mean figuratively).

In our instant digital age, information, and resources are accessible and updated every second of every day. The digital marketing and branding industries are ever-evolving, so I cannot expect to remain in place while everything moves around me, I’ll be left behind. There are new studies, data, and findings being discovered, and it’s up to you to be at the forefront and provide the best and most accurate information to your clients. You are the expert in your field and you need to know developments.

There are hundreds of ways to learn more information, including common ones like reading books, articles, and published pieces. You can go to community centers or schools if you want to take in-person classes. You can get creative and watch courses and classes on YouTube created by reputable industry professionals. My personal favorite are On-Demand classes from organizations like Coursera, which are licensed from schools all over the world.

I want to keep learning. There is too much information out here to stop now. Try not to feel too comfortable with being complacent. When I was younger, in college, I took the courses to graduate and have a shiny diploma. I wish I had paid more attention during school and soaked up all of the information they gave me. As I grow older, I take classes not for the degree, certification, or accolades but truly for the knowledge. The classes you take don’t have to be for career advancement either; they can be skills you want to have personally or a hobby you always wanted to take up. Knowledge is power, and that’s one thing no one can take away from you.