by Stephanie Staples | photo by Scottee Giles –
Back to school has never been more convenient, varied and fun! For the price of a cheap date you can invest in yourself, be entertained, educated and maybe even enjoy a tax deduction!
I was recently fortunate to attend two UVic Continuing Education courses at the Mary Winspear Centre, and I left both of them feeling better than when I entered.
UVic on the Peninsula has been a staple in our community for decades and the courses are as varied as the selections at Murchies. My selections for this month included “lectures” by columnist Jack Knox – Writing Gooder Humour, and UVic professor Dr. Olav Krigolson’s The Neuroscience of Human Decision Making, aka Why We Do the Dumb Things We Do! You would be hard pressed to look at the offerings and not find something that made your eyebrows lift and your whole body lean forward with interest.
Additionally, the Peninsula Friends Advisory Committee (PFAC) is ever so open to suggestions and requests for both topics and speakers. In fact, a fellow student requested Jack and then – poof ! – he appeared as if by rapid transit.
Campbell, a fellow student, told me he’s been coming to classes on the Peninsula for some 25 years. As a business owner in Sidney, he regularly marks time off on his calendar to ensure he can attend. Warren, a Probus Club member, finds it a great place to scout for speakers for his club and Linda and her husband John, members of the PFAC (an integral part of bringing the education to us) have attended over 800 lectures each … yes 800!
Since they say the best way to learn is to teach, I thought I’d share a few of my ConEd learnings with you.
From Jack Knox’s Writing Gooder Humour –
1) Use similes – here’s my try at it … Sidney is like a sloth, slow and quiet but super cute!
2) Write the opening line to your own obituary – my try at it … Steph was such an optimist she probably doesn’t believe she’s really dead.
3) Write when you are inspired and when you aren’t. Just write.
From Dr. Olav Krigolson’s The Neuroscience of Human Decision Making: You will make better decisions when you …
1) Have had enough sleep
2) Have consumed a healthy diet
3) Have had some exercise
4) You evaluate the value and assess
probability
5) Are wary of gut hunches
6) Take 30 seconds to contemplate.
Perhaps my favourite tip was about exploitation vs exploration. Exploitation is when you always make the choice with the highest expected outcome; for example, I love this trail on this hike. Exploration is when you deliberately choose the option with a lesser value or unknown outcome; for example, let’s try a completely new hike!
Now if only I can use my newfound wisdom to convince my hubby to come take some courses with me!
The ConEd sessions will run with a minimum of 13 people and sometimes pull in 50 plus; if we want to continue having ConEd on the Saanich Peninsula, we have to support it. The sessions are very reasonably priced.
If you are like me, you see things pass your desk dozens of time and think, “Ya, I should do that” and then one day you find out it’s cancelled and you think “Ohhh, I was going to try that.” I say: make a decision and try it now!
They typically have an Open House in January and the courses themselves run in two sessions: January through June and September through December. So plan ahead! Registration is super easy: just visit www.continuingstudies.uvic.ca/peninsula or you can even register by phone at 250-472-4747 if the computer doesn’t jazz you up. If you would like to request a speaker or topic, email uvcsreg@uvic.ca.
I predict you will be as glad as … (insert some funny simile here) … you did!
(I guess I need to repeat Jack’s class!)
