The oldest of the Boomer generation turns 65 in 2011. Significant numbers of Boomers along with their older brothers and sisters are asking: How do I want my Second Half of Life to take shape?
Ask the directors of continuing education at any community college, and they’ll tell you what Second Halfers are doing. They’re learning!
Over the last 10 years, non-credit class enrollments at community colleges have more than tripled. Second halfers are the dominant new learners in every field from computer graphics to travel to foreign languages. For fun.
Degree-granting programs at four-year colleges and universities also are seeing a rise in second half students. Professional schools such as law, business, and theology are experiencing explosions in their 50- and 60-year-old student admissions. Given lengthening longevity which makes possible healthy, active lives into one’s 80s, graduate school becomes a realistic goal for 50+ers.
The phenomenon is particularly strong with second half women. Freed from the work of child-rearing, and with new senses of awareness and possibility afforded by the past quarter-century of feminism, today’s second-half women are returning to universities with re-invigorated enthusiasm. Sociologist and author Gail Sheehy attributes the new visions as part of what she calls “pits-to-peaks post-menopausal zest.” If that’s it, I’d like to order some myself.
Another facet of the learning boom for both men and women in the second half of life is the merging of travel with learning. No longer is it enough to visit Tuscany or Provence. With a bit more time on their hands, 2H travelers carry along paint brushes and easels and carving knives and herbs. Cooking classes, painting classes and building classes are the rage.
Recognized world-class programs such as Exploritas (formerly called “Elderhostel”) and Disney University are offering increasing numbers of learning opportunities across the map. Even Club Med has pinpointed the trend of Second Half learning. Club Med membership has lots more gray hair these days.
Many of us imagine ourselves in new learning situations, but often it is “after we retire.” I’m not sure we need to wait. Why not take a closer look at the Bellevue College course offerings next time its catalog hits your mailbox?
Beyond that, don’t feel limited by those course offerings. Make a list of subjects you would like to learn about. But don’t stop at 5 or 10. Give yourself a half-hour of uninterrupted time to allow your mind to wander in that space of … “If only I had the time, I’d like to learn to… .”
Set a target of 50-100 new things you would like to learn. Remember, if you are 60 years of age, you are probably going to live another 25-30 years. That’s plenty of time to learn everything you’ve ever wanted — times two.
So shoot for a list of 50+. Here are 20 starter ideas: Preparing Chinese cooking sauces, cartooning, massage, shaping Japanese-styled trees and shrubs, jewelry-making, web-page designing, fused glass art, the history of Hindu art, lapidary stone-work, the details of Lewis & Clark’s Corps of Discovery, soup-making, welding for outdoor sculpture, how to play the guitar, how to dance the tango, furniture-making, producing video documentaries, Cajun cooking, how to research your family tree using the Internet, how to self-publish your own book, how to paint with water colors, how to speak Spanish, how to craft a short story, how to do brain surgery. Oops, that last one might be a bit ambitious, but you get the idea.
Remember: don’t stop at 50.
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”
– Henry Ford, 1940
Bill Morton has a Certificate in Gerontoly from the UW and is the author of “2H: The Official Second Half Handbook.” He’s lived on the Eastside for 20 years.
