I suppose there are worse ways to spend a restless night, wide awake at 1am, than registering for courses at Harvard, UC Berkeley, Boston University, and the University of Washington.
As it turns out, you can register for these things called massive online open courses, and they’re given by universities such as the ones above. You can audit them for free or pay $25 for a verified certificate of completion.
I have absolutely no idea what I was thinking that triggered me to look these up in the first place. I had heard about them in a TED talk, which is the only reason I even knew they existed. Once I started looking and realized how legitimate the courses are, and how broad the subject matters are, I got super excited and enrolled for a few. I enjoyed helping my friend with that paper she needed a few weeks ago, I want to go back to finish undergrad sometime and I really do enjoy learning, so why not? I just sit around here all night anyway with nothing to do anyway, no purpose.
I start one course right away- “Becoming a Resilient Person: The Science of Stress Management” offered through The University of Washington. After all, I am fascinated with the actual science of behavior and it is pretty fitting given my current predicament. No books to buy, do at your own pace… I see no downside whatsoever.
Then in mid – June I will realize my dream of being educated by Harvard (totally buying a T-Shirt once I complete this one) with a class called “Tangible Things”, whose syllabus includes everything from reevaluating everyday items to the practice of mindfulness.
The beginning of September brings what caught my eye in the first place – UC Berkeley’s team of experts teaching “The Science of Happiness.”
The end of September starts “War for the Greater Middle East” through Boston University – figure I could brush up on what I was studying in college in the first place.
I’m so excited I could dance a jig. How awesome (if beyond nerdy) is this??? I was having a very blah day, but this has really cheered me and got me little-kid-excited for the first time in a looooooong time. I’m smart, damnit, I can kick ass at this.
Plus a little earlier this evening I contacted the local Council for the Arts about possibly showcasing/entering my zentangles.
I know it’s 1:30 am but I’m trying to convince myself I’m not manic, just slept too long this morning and am now just excited. Hey, I was sensible and only enrolled in a few courses over a length of time & it’s no pressure at all since it’s just auditing. Even if I do massively screw something up course – wise it will have no effect on my life whatsoever. And if I do over stress, I can drop out without losing anything… though I really think I’ll do well. It’s nice to feel confident – “yes, I can do this! I’m good at this!”
Plus I can chill with my cats in pj’s during class. Huge fist bump and high five to edX!
EdX offers interactive online classes and MOOCs from the world’s best universities. Online courses from MITx, HarvardX, BerkeleyX, UTx and many other universities. Topics include biology, business, chemistry, computer science, economics, finance, electronics, engineering, food and nutrition, history, humanities, law, literature, math, medicine, music, philosophy, physics, science, statistics and more. EdX is a non-profit online initiative created by founding partners Harvard and MIT.
