That booked I picked up from the library, Hacking Your Education: Ditch the Lectures, Save Tens of Thousands, and Learn More than Your Peers Ever Will, is turning out to have a lot more value than I originally thought. Although I already have a college degree, the book is full of neat idea on how to keep learning and growing, which is something that can be done whether or not you have completed higher education. Today's neat idea is coming up with a list of things you want to learn, and then getting starting on learning one of those things. I like this because there's always things we want to learn, especially since those things we want to learn aren't the same things that are taught in schools.
So, below is my list of things I want to learn how to do or to learn more about. At the end of it, I'll pick one and start learning more, whether that's by reading a book, or talking to someone, or trying a few things out on my own. The point is to come up with something that can be a self-directed project of learning and building skills.
What I Want to Learn
- Russian (again)
- How to Make My Own Soap (dish soap, laundry detergent, fabric softener, hand soap etc.)
- To Play the Clarinet (again)
- American History
- World History
- How to Register Non-Profit
- How to Cook Vegan Food
- How to Brew Espresso
- Some type of aerobics, such as zumba, yoga etc.
Be More Specific...
- Learn to have a conversation in Russian
- Learn how to make your own laundry detergent
- Learn how to use an espresso machine and make a delicious latte
- Learn how to register a non-profit in Missouri
- Learn to play a song on the clarinet
- Learn how to do a few basic poses in yoga
- Learn enough U.S history to ace the history part of this eighth grade exam
- Learn African history post-European emancipation
My Choice for What I Want to Spend My Time Learning
Of all those wonderful things I can learn, the one I'm going to choose to work is the U.S history one. I remember reading the article about that test a few months ago, and I was a little embarrassed that I found it so tough. The spelling section is easy, but physiology is crazy and grammar isn't all that easy either. I'm going to get started on this by borrowing a U.S history book the next time I go the library, and then reading up on the specific topics covered in the test. It's kind of nice I don't need to study anything beyond 1912. In a future post, I'll talk about what I've learned (besides the answers to the questions, of course). In the meantime, there are a few things about our nation's history that I need to learn, and that many of us probably need to learn as well.