With autumn well under way, kids up and down the country have adjusted themselves to new classrooms, teachers and friends. Half term is here! It’s a time for new beginnings and a fresh pair of eyes. However, just because we automatically associate the months of fall with new starts for school kids doesn’t mean they should have all the fun!
When I mention adult education courses, a lot of people shudder. For some, swapping an office for a classroom just feels like a step backward. Furthermore, who has time, when you’re working nine-to-five, trying to make progress in your career to go and learn? At a glance, adult education courses may be dismissed as a frivolous luxury that only those with too much time on their hands are able to do.
The truth is most classes are taken in the evening or, in some cases, in the middle of the night! This is so the lessons do not interfere with the pupils’ working lives. Of course, this isn’t simply a one-size-fits-all solution and some people have children, or value their time and social lives more than they would pursuing a course in something new, regardless of how interesting they might find it.
For those that do decide to take on the gauntlet that is night courses, though, the benefits can be immeasurable. The first thing to know is that you can take a night course in just about anything, from Portuguese lessons to furniture upholstering, anything is possible if you just Google it and commit yourself.
The variety is undoubtedly one of the biggest benefits of night courses and it allows you to work during the day, making money as you usually would, and at moonlight as a butcher, baker or candlestick maker. This can be treated as a chance to do something new that is completely separate from your working life.
We know that these lessons can be on basically anything under the sun but a good way to make the most of it is learn something that you’ve always wanted to learn. A budding interest in a subject can really help and whilst you may be an office worker on the surface, learning jujitsu or the art of calligraphy can make for an interesting party trick, to say the least. Furthermore, it scratches that itch you’ve always had and can make you feel more fulfilled
Another equally useful way to utilise night courses is to take something that relates directly to your job. There are examples of workers taking classes in business management or economics and suddenly seeing themselves promoted and their salaries increase. Make it clear to your boss the efforts you’re going to, that are going to make you better equipped to do your job. You’ll reap the rewards of putting the effort in to make yourself a more versatile and well-rounded worker.
I’d also say that night courses allow you to really build character. This is because they are so tough and can take up so much of your free time that you could spend with your friends, family or simply just sleeping. There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing you achieved something against the odds, so the success will be made all the sweeter because of the level of difficulty that comes with juggling a full-time job and a night course.
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