ushing about in a flurry of gathering textbooks, notepads, and writing utensils; scurrying down a hallway checking each room number while searching for the right classroom; choosing a desk to sit in that’s just the right fit; looking around at the other students trying to find seats and wondering, Is there anyone here I will “connect” with? These activities elicit memories of bygone schooldays for those of us who fall into the baby boomer category, but for me—and for a growing number of other older adults in the United States—the excitement and anxiety that accompany that “first day of school” have recently returned.

 

Although taking pictures is not a core responsibility of my work for Adventist Review, I’ve been feeling a need to strengthen my photography skills for those stories and events for which I’m both the writer and the photographer. So with the blessing of my boss, I signed up for a photojournalism class at a local university.

 

On that first day of class, however, as I watched all the many young men and women traipse into the classroom laughing and jostling one another, I began feeling older by the minute. What have I gotten myself into? I wondered. Maybe this was a bad idea.

 

But a sense of relief flooded over me as—finally—a woman of about my own age walked in and sat down. And then to my joy, a man named Ed, who would also be considered an older adult, joined the group of photojournalism students. I decided that maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

 

The Center for Creative Retirement in North Carolina¹ cites a combination of factors that has “generated a growing population of older learners.” According to its report, today’s older generation is more affluent, better educated, and healthier than previous generations in the United States; has more leisure time; and shows greater interest in a second career after retirement. Scrambling to meet this demand, universities and colleges as well as community-based and nonprofit organizations are padding their curricula with adult-education programs. And it appears they’re experiencing no lack of students.

 

Flexible class scheduling and taking courses via the Internet play a vital role in making additional education for the 40-plus crowd a doable. Evening and weekend programs as well as short intensive courses are appealing to those who work part- or full-time or try to squeeze in classes amid personal family activities.

 

ABC News reported on the changing phenomenon: “Baby boomers have reshaped what it means to grow older,” journalists Lisa Stark and Megan Carpenter wrote. “Compared with their parents, boomers are healthier, better educated and living well into their 80s and beyond. The increasing lifespan has given boomers the chance to reinvent themselves and pursue new passions at any age.”2

 

The same article reported on an Associated Press survey that found 43 percent of boomers expect to work for pay after retirement because “they want to stay busy; 27 percent say they’ll keep working to make ends meet and another 19 percent will work so that they can afford ‘extras.’”

And for church members who would like to serve in some type of volunteer ministry after retirement but don’t have all the necessary skills, taking a class or two might be a way to prepare for reaching this future goal.

 

Sandy, the other older adult woman in my class, has been working as an editorial assistant. She says she’s been taking classes the past several years to earn a bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies. Ed, on the other hand, is retired and interested in photography only as a hobby.

 

I’ve discovered an enjoyment in learning that I didn’t experience as fully when I was younger. And it’s rewarding to watch my skills improve and to feel more knowledgeable about a subject I enjoy.

 

So even if you’re no longer classified as “young”—at least in years—and you have an interest you would like to pursue or a skill that needs strengthening, you might want to consider taking a class.

 

You might be surprised by how many others your age are taking it too.

 

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Sandra Blackmer is an assistant editor of the Adventist Review.