This summer I’m teaching classes AND taking classes for the first time since graduate school. I promised myself back then that I wouldn’t ever take an exam again. I told myself there’s a reason that a Ph.D. is a terminal degree. I knew I’d never be done with learning, but I wanted to be done with assessments forever.
And yet, here I am working on a specialization in strategic planning through Coursera, an online learning platform. Originally, I was just going to do their free trial. My older son is working there this summer as a legal intern, so I thought I would check it out. I chose the subject because our college is working on strategic planning at lots of levels, so I thought I should at least know what it is! I figured I’d use my free trial period to learn some vocabulary and see someone else’s version of an online course. I’m taking my second class in a four-course series now. Hooked!
Turns out, strategic management appeals to my personality in a lot of ways. Planning ahead, setting goals, and optimizing have always been my little joys. I’m learning that there are processes for this in organizations. I’m learning bigger ways to think about things. Most of all, I’m learning. My brain is loving the input, and I’ve been given some opportunities to use what I’m learning at work. As a trade-off, I have to do a few quizzes and write a few papers. I’m good with that.
Learning Something New
