Dear Dumplin,
I want you to know that education is vital. Learning should never stop simply because school is over or you have graduated. As I described my academic journey to you here and here, I wanted to also show that there may not be a straight path. There is no right way or wrong way to go about your education. If I have any regrets, it’s that I didn’t toughen up and take control of my education sooner. I remained indecisive for some time and waited for some sort of rescue. You must rescue yourself because no one can live your life for you. Just make a decision and don’t think too long without taking active steps towards making your life what you want it. There is NO SHAME in changing directions. Life is truly about the journey as much as it is about the destination. So should your educational path take some detours, I’ve composed a list of seven sites I believe are ahead of the game educationally.
- Skillcrush is an interactive learning community that aims to make it easier for anyone to learn technology. Web design, coding, WordPress, web development, and seo are the name of the game. The prices aren’t bad either.
- Lynda.com is a one stop shop for online videos and tutorials in a vast array of topics. What I like is that you can pick how many classes to take and some classes even allow free snippets to see if it’s the class you are looking for. The payment setup is creative in that you pay a monthly fee for access every video in their database. For a little extra money a month, you can download projects for practice. If you have a block of time to learn a lot, this would be a great option.
- Skillshare is a community for creative people to learn. I used to sketch and wanted to minor in graphic design at one point. As a result, it wouldn’t surprise me if you had some of that creative flare. Design, Photography, and Entrepreneurship are some of the classes. They offer a 14-day free trial and then you pay a monthly membership fee that is really inexpensive. I might just pick up a hobby over there…
- Coursera offers FREE online courses from top universities across the country. They have limited seating so classes fill up fast. They also have listings in everything from Music to Business to Global Affairs and more! Keep checking back because like I said, the classes are FREE.
- Udemy is another online academy. I like that they have both free and paid options. If you get on their email list, they often send discounts for more expensive courses. It is another site with a wide variety of classes with everything from Personal Development to Health and Fitness to Business, to Language. Try a free class to get your feet wet then go back for more!
- Marie Forleo B-School is an online business training course that happens over eight weeks. Enrollment only happens once a year in March but once you are in, you have access to everything for as long as the school is around. One, I just like Marie Forleo. She’s happy and bubbly, incredibly smart, and living a passion filled purposefully led life. That’s something we can all aspire to. She’s created a place where anyone can gain important business skills to launch an online business and be successful. I once heard someone say the internet is the next frontier. Marie is helping people claim their spot and earn success.
- Smart Passive Income – Now this option is a little different and not typically what people think of when they think of education. Pat Flynn focuses on blogging, podcasts, and recently YouTube and teaches people how to achieve passive income the smart way. Passive income allows people to own their own time. Isn’t that a beautiful thing? If you have money coming in whether you work or not, then you get to spend your time and energy on what you want to do and not what you have to do. I believe this is vital information and something that everyone should learn how to do. I’m trying to learn about it and will let you know if I am successful.
I hope I’ve given you some things to think about and resources should your academic journey be more of a labyrinth then a straight line.
Love,
Mama