Muskens: This year resolve to learn more
There are two types of people at this time of year, those who make New Year’s resolutions and those who don’t.
If you have never lived up to your New Year’s resolution in the past, falling into the resolution trap to change your behaviour might not appeal to you.
But resolutions don’t always have to be about losing weight, exercising more or quitting smoking. They could be about adding something to your life such as learning something new.
And learning something new doesn’t have to be associated with your job or for career advancement, it can be learning for pleasure or recreation.
For example, I know many people who are avid world travellers who enjoy taking conversational language courses. These are non-credit courses where, with an instructor and your classmates, you can learn to speak and understand (at the rudimentary level) another language.
If you travel to a foreign country and have some knowledge of the local language, chances are you will enjoy your trip more.
Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan offer non-credit language courses through their continuing studies departments. Languages offered usually include Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, German and French. But languages are not the only options out there.
Some of the most popular courses offered by Okanagan College’s continuing studies department include digital photography.
Courses are offered for both point-and-shoot and SLR cameras, photo editing including Adobe Photoshop, how to take better photographs and much more.
Coined leisure courses by Okanagan College, this winter the College is offering writing, art therapy and home decorating courses.
Other interesting leisure course topics include aging successfully, calligraphy, NFL Football 101 for Women, creative aromatherapy, and soap making, to name a few.
In-demand courses at both UBC Okanagan and the College include learning more about the local wine industry and the wines they produce such as the difference between a Merlot and a Shiraz. Other topics included wine appreciation and food and wine pairing.
But not all courses require you to attend class. Some of the most popular non-credit courses at Okanagan College are gardening courses offered through distance education.
Students have the option of enrolling in a practical gardener course or take advanced level gardening courses. The advanced level includes courses in annuals and biennials, perennials, deciduous shrubs and trees, fruit and nut trees, conifers, grasses, natural gardening and understanding plant hardiness, small fruits, broad leaf evergreens, and bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes.
If you are an avid gardener, there is no better time than winter to prepare for spring planting. The great thing about distance education courses is that you can start them at any time.
So if you want to make a New Year’s resolution you can stick with and learn something new at the same time, you might want to consider making a learning challenge resolution and take that course you may have been putting off for years.
Jane Muskens is the interim registrar at Okanagan College.
muskens@okanagan.bc.ca
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