Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.


LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:
The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…
A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

An End and a New Beginning…

On our last evening in Austria we enjoyed a delicious farewell dinner held at the oldest inn in Innsbruck, the Goldener Adler. Our souvenir menus told us we were having warm duck breast salad, steak with vegetables, unlimited wine and sacher torte for dessert. We had a great time recapping the many interesting things we learned, the incredible places we visited, and all the highpoints of the program. There were stories, laughter, picture-taking, and even a lengthy limerick by one of the more poetically-inclined members of our group. Musical entertainment was provided by a Tirolean zither player. The evening was a fitting finale to an outstanding program that did more for me than I had ever expected.

In fact, what I took home from this trip was, not only unexpected, but much better and far more long-lasting than any souvenir. I took home a kind of action plan for the next step in my new life. For me being back in a classroom after more than 25 years was invigorating. Thanks to this educational travel program I realized that, in an effort to help remake my life, I wanted to return to school.

So, taking another step outside my comfort zone, that fall I entered a special program for working adults at Cambridge College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. No 18-year-olds in these classes; just hard-working men and women who came to school in the evenings and on weekends. Six semesters later I emerged with a Masters of Education degree, having focused on adult education. I saw all around me how education changed the lives of my classmates as well as myself, and I wanted to be part of something that powerful.

So, in a way, I came full circle. When I first signed up for my educational adventure, never in a million years did I think it would lead me where it did…what a wonderful surprise!

Next Week…Now What?

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
According to Lawrence Durrell, the British author and travel writer, “Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection.” So true! That’s exactly how it helped me decide what I wanted to do next.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit http://www.learninglater.com/ You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at http://www.amazon.com/

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