Just because you’ve left school and thrown away all of your books and uniform in favour of a smart business suit and a briefcase full of important files, or a rucksack full of your tools, or a wheelie case filled with the essential equipment needed to do your job, doesn’t mean you’re too old to learn or that you already know everything there is to know about the things that interest you. It’s amazing just how many adults use the “I don’t need to know about that” argument when presented with something new.
The term “everyday is a school day” is one of the most widely used, especially when people learn something about a topic that never made sense to them before, but is now perfectly clear. Take the issue of health, a lot of people know that when you get a cold or the ‘flu, you take paracetamol and try to stay warm but many adults are often unaware that there is actually an issue affecting them, let alone how to cope with it.
For instance, one in six people suffer from hearing loss at some point in their lifetime, yet many are unaware as to just how to live with the condition and what can be done about it. That’s what makes campaigns such as Hearing Awareness Month just so useful. People can go along to their nearest participating branch and get a free hearing test to try and get to the bottom of their condition, meaning that every day genuinely is a school day – no matter how old you are!
If you are suffering with any kind of hearing impairment, learning how to deal with it can make a major difference to your quality of life. Some people just live with it and carry on regardless, although others find a way of improving their hearing and quality of life with the help of an expert or a hearing aid.
In the case of hearing impairments, unfortunately they are likely to get worse and a lot of conditions are irreversible; but being educated on the condition itself and the best ways to manage it can make a huge difference. It’s just making that first step to getting checked, something that awareness months such as Hearing Awareness Month are great for.
Another great example is in technology, and the fact that you’re never too old to learn how to use it! With more and more importance being placed on knowing how to use a computer, and newspapers making the move from print to digital format, it’s important that people learn how to use a computer, and night classes have seen a rise in enrollments, especially among adults and older people, with more than 600,000 learners aged over 60 in England alone.
To find a local course, go along to your nearest college and pick up a prospectus which will cover all of the topics they teach, the dates and times that the courses run on and how much it will cost – many are free, and those that aren’t might have options to apply for assistance with costs.
I started this article by saying that every day is a school day, and it really is. You might not even realise it, but every time you wake up in the morning you’re making the first step to learning something new about something – and there’s a lot to learn. You never finish learning, and in the case of your health, it’s vital that you never assume you have. Asking for help is a huge step, but one that could make an even bigger difference to your life.
