IF you are stuck here in London as an exchange student this Christmas and it is your choice to spend the holidays here rather than back home in Salamanca, then make the most out of it. Rather than just watching the sites or savoring the food in London (which is nothing really except your typical Western dishes), how about learning something? If you want to polish your English skills, then learn English here in London so you can appreciate more the beauty of the city while riding the London Eye, looking at the fireworks over River Thames, watching the Big Ben strike the New Year coundown or simply idling at Hyde Park.
Yet, it’s not just learning English that you can have as a pasttime of learning this Christmas. If you are a medical student here in London and you want to specialize in cardiology, then you may check out some of the renowned cardiology centers in London and try to make a visit. Try to inquire if you can borrow some reading materials from their library or better yet, just sit for four hours in the library every day and learn a few updates on cardiology. In this way, you will have ample preparation in your chosen specialization and you will have the edge over your classmates.
If you are a film buff, try to hang around the libary of any film school here in London and try to appreciate the difference between a Hollywood production and a British film. Try to distinguish how a British director helms a film and you can see that the British are although not arrogant, they try to project that their films are classical and more elegant. As with Hollywood movies, there are various genres in British films and television series from horror to comedy, from suspense to drama. Typical British film directors are Guy Ritchie and Paul Greengrass so if you want to have a self-study of British films, then better rent the movies megged by these directors. Or how about viewing the television series Spooks? It’s the British answer to the Hollywood television series The Unit. Movies starring Kiera Knightley, Daniel Radcliffe and Hugh Grant such as Pride and Prejudice that are produced in Britain are also worth studying because they are exemplars of British films. Meanwhile, if you want to study all about British plays, then simply go to any public library here in London and again have a self-study on the subject. There are considerable differences in West End and Broadway plays.
Or you may simply learn how to drive here in London. After all, all vehicles here have the right hand drive as roads here are driven to the left. Or maybe you have an interest in climatology. Christmas may be an opportune time to study and compare the weather patterns in Salamanca and in London. While it is admittedly a temperate climate all year round in Salamanca, here in London may be a little unpredictable.
ADULTS need not be contented with what they have learned as of the moment for education is a lifetime experience from being an infant up to old age. Even when one is still an infant, mothers or stepmothers already guide their babies on how to recognize milk from the nipples. Even in retirement, people keep learning new things. If one is a Roman Catholic, he may be learning new things about the Bible or about the canon law in religious seminars which may take two days long. That is still considered learning because one will be given a certificate of completion after these seminar trainings.
It is not just in a conventional training though that a certificate of completion is given. These certificates are likewise emailed to you where you can print a copy and affix your signature on it if you have completed a crash course online which may take two days to accomplish too. Even professionals take various crash courses to enhance their knowledge on the profession that they have dedicated to. Every once in a while – a year or so – accountants in any country meet for a seminar about updates on audit procedures and everything else in between. Infectious diseases experts all over the world meet every five years or so to update themselves on emerging Ebola threats in Congo or bird flu presence here and there. There may be an infectious diseases expert based in France who has discovered a new bacteria strain or a new antiviral formula which has not yet been learned by folks from CDC. That is why sharing knowledge with each other is important. And that is the essence of a lifetime of learning.
Another reason why people do not stop studying is to enhance themselves for promotion. That is why trainings and skills that one have achieved and can do respectively are important in one’s curriculum vitae. For example, I already have a bachelor’s degree in mass communications but I did not stop my education there. I took up a master’s degree in technological communications management, I took two weeks’ training on how to troubleshoot iPhones, another two weeks’ training on how to install Cisco products such as routers, game console adapters, bridges and range expanders as well as six weekends of training in reflexology and six months of training in medical transcription. See, I have diverse skills and companies will be impressed to hire me. Later on, I am planning to take up the advanced course in Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) so that I can teach English to South Koreans in the Philippines, to Thais in Phuket, to the Chinese in Beijing and to the French-speaking Canadians in Montreal. The possibilities are infinite. Who knows, I can become a movie dialogue coach in English. There’s an ongoing Hollywood production in the Philippines right now called Deep Gold and I have browsed online that they are in need of an English dialogue coach for the Cambodian actors and actresses on the set. I am planning to apply for that position.
THERE are lots of reasons why people continue to study even after having achieved a bachelor’s degree. Consider this – if you come from a farming family in Garabandal or even in the uptown and rural areas of Salamanca as well as in Granada, then you may be encouraged to take a bachelor’s degree in animal science if you have a ranch or in agronomy if your family is engaged in the olive plantation business. But you must not rest in your laurels even if you already have achieved that degree. Even if you already have made big bucks after graduation by acquiring the family-owned farm, you can always relegate it to another member of the family and move on to greener pastures, so to speak.
The road to international travel and ultimate financial reward is easy once you have achieved a master’s degree in whatever field you are involved at the moment. If your concentration is on veterinary medicine, then concentrate on that. If your field on the other hand is all about infectious diseases, then concentrate on that too. It doesn’t necessarily follow that if you’re a practicing architect in Spain that your reputation will never be known anymore in such places as Australia. If you are that reputable, several companies who are in need of your services will hire you.
That is the road to online education. For example, if you have a degree in international relations, chances are you will be deployed at the Spanish foreign ministry. But if you are diligent enough to continue your studies during weekend and achieve a masteral degree and a doctorate in international relations in four years’ time, then you will surely be up for the post of consul at any country where Spain has a diplomatic relation with. This will surely be a great boost to one’s career and it is where the financial finesse comes in. It’s not just the compensation that you will be getting; it also includes the prestige of representing the voice of Spain in whatever country or foreign city you are assigned to. Besides, you can travel at the best attractions of your host country complete with a guided tour. You may even love to learn the native tongue in your host country and acquire a second or a third language as a result. But that’s just the field of diplomacy that I’m talking about. There are countless opportunities out there as a result to continuing studies.
It’s not just traditional education in semesters that I’m talking about regarding continuing education. One may already have a doctorate degree in his or her chosen field yet the person can still afford to enroll in an entirely different endeavor. I have a friend who is a certified accountant yet can still find time to enroll in medical transcription training. He says that he has lots of free time at work after home where he can use his medical transcription training to fruition.
