In my experience, the adult learner is typically more engaged in and more appreciative of the educational experience…
The Adult Learner
Thoughts on the adult learner, and how to balance life… at work… at home… while continuing your education as a nontraditional student.
I agree the adult learner has often faced more trails in the workforce, and values gaining a degree.
I believe that the adult learner experience in higher education models that of the American dream. Not to wax too poetic here, but America has always been about 2nd chances, pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps, etc. Adult learners fit this mold!
As an older adult learner just gaining my BBA, it is definetly a daunting challenge to pursue an MBA. At my age, I often wonder if an MBA would be worth the pursuit.
With retirement age approaching, and no retirment funds, I will probably be working until they pry my cold, lifeless hands from my keyboard. Wanting to pursue an MBA and having the ability to finance and MBA are two different issues.
I think immersion bypasses all of the limitations proposed in traditional assumptions about how much easier it is for a child to learn than an adult learner. I never had the luxury of studying a foreign language as a child, but in my adult life, living in a country with another primary language (immersion) provides similar novelty of stimulus, even in adults. Every time I begin studying a new language in the midst of a foreign culture, it makes me feel like a child learning to speak for the first time all over again
I completely agree. As an adult, i’ve often wished I could go back through my BS and that I would KILL it. Maturity, seriousness, and an understanding of how it all works together.
Adult-friendly programs (like Belhaven’s) are simply a response to the changing times. The demographic of the “college student” has changed over the past 2 generations, and institutions like Belhaven have adapted to meet the needs of Adult Learners.
Belhaven’s 79th Annual Singing Christmas Tree, happening on December 2-3, is the oldest outdoor singing Christmas tree event in the world! Yeah, we ROCK with tradition!
Belhaven’s 79th Annual Singing Christmas Tree, happening on December 2-3, is the oldest outdoor singing Christmas tree event in the world!