A college degree can benefit an individual in many different ways. Some of these include higher income, greater knowledge, more potential and better job opportunities. Not all of these benefits resulting from a college degree may be immediately obvious.

Obviously, one of the main reasons that people want to have a college degree is because of the increased earnings opportunities that it brings. It is not guaranteed but, in general, a person with a college education will earn more money than a colleague without a college education.

A college education tends to give a person greater knowledge and this will increase their levels of understanding of new developments in their chosen field. Another benefit of a college education is that it develops a person’s ability to think abstractly and critically as well as improves their ability to express their thoughts clearly both orally and in writing.

It is also widely believed that a college education helps people become a responsible citizen by giving them a greater understanding of their community, country and global issues. If not achieving anything quite as grand as this a college education certainly helps people become more self-sufficient.

The fact is that the processes involved in obtaining a college education are very different from those a person may have experienced at school. Even if a person genuinely hated school life and felt that they were unable to learn properly under those conditions they should still consider attending a college. It is a good idea to visit colleges when the students are there or at an open day so you can chat to current students and ask about the differences between high school and college life.

There are so many ways to obtain a college education these days that there really are very dew excuses for people to not give themselves the opportunity. Going away to a different area to receive a college education has a lot of benefits on its own, including teaching a person who may be away from home for the first time how to be self-sufficient. This not only gives the person the bonuses associated with having a college education but also prepares them for moving away from home.

If you are adverse to the idea of moving away from home, for whatever reason, then you can still obtain a college education by attending a college in your home town or area. If you are already working then you can attend colleges on a part-time basis. If you have problems fitting in scheduled college classes around your work or family commitments then there are a growing number of distance learning courses that can help you receive a college education by fitting it into your own routine. These can be either correspondence courses or via the internet.

Tips for juggling the class room, family room and conference room

(ARA) – As the slowed economy has fueled a very competitive job market, more and more adults are making the decision to go back to school to build upon their skills and obtain the knowledge required to strengthen their career prospects.

Many of these students heading back into the classroom are working to earn their bachelors, or obtain a second degree while they juggle class and study time with their work, life and family responsibilities. Many educational institutions are taking notice of this, and encouraging students to fully understand the time and effort required to pursue their education.

DeVry University’s Senior Career Services Advisor and adjunct professor Kim Smith teaches a critical thinking and problem-solving course that introduces campus resources and academic information to help students “conquer obstacles that can prevent the achievement of their educational goals” – shortened as the acronym COPE.

“Most student responsibilities include work, family and financial obligations in addition to completing their degree, and, as a result, it can be a difficult challenge to find the right balance between them,” says Smith. “This course helps students develop a plan toward graduation based on the amount of time they currently have available for their class and study time. For students to effectively manage their time, they must first understand how they use their time.”

To start, students complete a personal time survey that maps out an entire week of activity. Identifying how each student spends each of the week’s 168 hours is critical in determining how many credit hours are realistic for their schedule and pinpointing specific days and times that can be set aside for studying. Students also choose their preference of class-type, as DeVry University offers a unique opportunity to pursue a quality education on-campus or online, or in a combination that fits their lives and schedules.  

“The main focus of this assignment is to give students a realistic view of how much time they are spending on daily activities, including sleep, preparation time for meals, travel time, work, school and socializing,” says Smith. “The goal is to have students create an individualized course schedule that allows them to maintain a healthy balance between school and other obligations.”

Specific time management lessons addressed during the course that can apply to all adult students include:

* Admit and commit – The key here is that people will only be successful at managing time well if they admit that any system is better than none, choose one, and commit to using it. Of the many planning tools available, find one that works for you, and commit to it.

* Establish priorities – Use a “to-do” list to place items in order of importance. Understanding how many hours you can devote to typical daily activities allows you to plan your school schedule accordingly.

* Keep the schedule flexible – It is best to be proactive in planning a schedule for each semester as soon as you meet with the class and receive the syllabus. Keep in mind that life will present unexpected demands, and that means you will need to re-evaluate and adjust your plan each week to meet your goals.

* Be realistic – Can you sustain a grueling school and work schedule until the end of the semester? Can you really write an essay in just an hour? Be realistic. Be sensible about the amount of time a certain task will take, and plan study breaks with small, beneficial rewards for yourself. Planning time to see a movie or talk with a friend brings mental and emotional rest to prepare us to tackle harder tasks again the next day.

The goal of this activity is to provide students with the information necessary to make sound decisions that will allow them to maintain the balance between school, work, family, friends and financial responsibilities. “Students see value in implementing time management strategies,” says Smith. “They realize they don’t have to sacrifice work and family life requirements while pursuing their educational careers.”

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Have you heard about American Intercontinental University Online's (AIU) flexible scheduling option?  It allows students to complete their degree online fast.

Students now have a choice in determining how quickly they can graduate with an industry-current Associate's degree. AIU Online's Flexible Scheduling Plan is a flexible course-scheduling model designed to meet the needs of career-focused professionals who have real-world responsibilities. The Take 2 option remains the choice for students interested in earning their Associate's degree as quickly as possible. Students learn at an accelerated pace and graduate fast. Students pursuing an Associate's degree can also choose the Take 1 option, which permits them to take just one course during each 5-week session.

AIU also offers online Bachelor degree and MBA degree options online for quick completion too.  The MBA degree can be obtained in as little as 10 months!  Get more information about your targeted program

I think that most people would agree that the people who have goals are more successful than those who do not have any.

I often talk about leadership and management. Leadership is about doing the right things while management is about doing things right. Often when we study time management, we study efficiency (doing things right) and make the assumption that we have the effectiveness (leadership) solved.

The first step in any time management system should be to work on goals and as such, I use the following 60 Minute Goal Setting Exercise.

Step 1: at the top of a blank piece of paper write down “values” and then spend 10 to 15 minutes writing down everything that you value. There is a great website: www.stevepavlina.com/ that has a list of several hundred values to start your mind thinking in the right direction. After the time is up, stop doing this and move to Step 2.

Step 2: at the top of a blank piece of paper write down “lifetime goals”. This is where you can dream; for example, what places would you like to visit; what experiences would you like to have; what would you like to accomplish within your lifetime. This might include traveling to Australia; getting a university degree; living in an X square foot house, etc. There are no rules to this brainstorming – simply make a list.

I have done this goal setting exercise many times and I tend to use the same list of lifetime goals and add to the list each time I do the exercise.

Step 3: at the top of a blank piece of paper write down what you would do if you had six months to live. This part of the exercise really came home to me this week when one of my close friends died at 36 years old. Some of us may have only six months to live; however, we may not know it yet. List everything that you would do if you had only six months to live. Part of the purpose of this exercise that I found works well for me is that it brings the truly important into focus. Often I find things that I would do if I had only six months to live that are not listed on my life time goals.

Step 4: at the top of a blank piece of paper write down your goals for this year. After doing the first three steps, you will find this step much easier than the others. These are the goals to focus on NOW.

This total exercise will only take an hour. An hour spent clarifying your goals can save you hundreds of hours.

Life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths. In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life. There are roads that lead to a life of single blessedness, marriage, and religious vocation. There are also roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment.

Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad. With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take? What is the guarantee that we would choose the right one along the way? Would you take any road, or just stay where you are: in front of a crossroad?

There are no guarantees.

You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it. There are no guarantees. This is one of the most important things you need to realize about life. Nobody said that choosing to do the right thing all the time would always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned. Gaining fame and fortune does not guarantee happiness. Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent.  There are too many possible outcomes, which your really cannot control. The only thing you have power over is the decisions that you will make, and how you would act and react to different situations.

Wrong decisions are always at hindsight.

Had you known that you were making a wrong decision, would you have gone along with it? Perhaps not, why would you choose a certain path when you know it would get you lost? Why make a certain decision if you knew from the very beginning that it is not the right one. It is only after you have made a decision and reflected on it that you realize its soundness. If the consequences or outcomes are good for you, then you have decided correctly. Otherwise, your decision was wrong.

Take the risk: decide.

Since life offers no guarantee and you would never know that your decision would be wrong until you have made it, then you might as well take the risk and decide. It is definitely better than keeping yourself in limbo. Although it is true that one wrong turn could get you lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an adventure, moreover open more roads. It is all a matter of perspective. You have the choice between being a lost traveller or an accidental tourist of life.  But take caution that you do not make decisions haphazardly. Taking risks is not about being careless and stupid. Here are some pointers that could help you choose the best option in the face of life’s crossroads:

·    Get as many information as you can about your situation.

You cannot find the confidence to decide when you know so little about what you are faced with. Just like any news reporter, ask the 5 W’s: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? When did this happen? Where is this leading? Why are you in this situation? These are just some of the possible questions to ask to know more about your situation. This is important. Oftentimes, the reason for indecision is the lack of information about a situation.

·    Identify and create options.
 
What options do the situation give you? Sometimes the options are few, but sometimes they are numerous. But what do you do when you think that the situation offers no options? This is the time that you create your own. Make your creative mind work. From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the end. You can ask a friend to help you identify options and even make more options if you encounter some difficulty, but make sure that you make the decision yourself in the end.

·    Weigh the pros and cons of every option.

Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights about the consequences of such an option.

·    Trust yourself and make that decision.

Now that you have assessed your options, it is now time to trust yourself. Remember that there are no guarantees and wrong decisions are always at hindsight.  So choose… decide… believe that you are choosing the best option at this point in time.

Now that you have made a decision, be ready to face its consequences: good and bad. It may take you to a place of promise or to a land of problems. But the important thing is that you have chosen to live your life instead of remaining a bystander or a passive audience to your own life. Whether it is the right decision or not, only time can tell. But do not regret it whatever the outcome. Instead, learn from it and remember that you always have the chance to make better decisions in the future.