Winter - Jefferson Community College

A Message from the PresidentIn addition to a special 50th anniversary theme, this edition of the Jefferson Insider also celebrateslifelong learning. You will actually find examples of lifelong learning to be prevalent inany previous or upcoming issue of the Jefferson Insider, not just this one. It is a topic that is verynear and dear to my heart.The Harper Collins online dictionary defines lifelong learning as “the provision or use of both formaland informal learning opportunities throughout people’s lives in order to foster the continuousdevelopment and improvement of the knowledge and skills needed for employment andpersonal fulfillment.”Studies and reports abound documenting the need for American workers to continuously maintainand upgrade their skills so that they can remain competitive. We all know people who havereturned to school after losing their job and are retooling to get back into the workplace. This is aform of lifelong learning.We also all know people who wish that they had gone to college and for whatever reason didnot. Lifelong learning is for them too. I was just such a person. I went to college full-time for oneyear and then dropped out because I wanted a job, an apartment, and a car – independence. Ittook me quite a while to realize that I was never going to have the type of career I desired unlessI finished my education. Independence without an education was not at all what I thought itwas going to be. I finished my bachelor’s degree when I was in my thirties, earned my master’sdegree in my forties, and was slightly north of fifty when I received my doctorate. It truly is nevertoo late to go to college. My education as an adult student is a form of lifelong learning.Lifelong learning, though, goes far beyond worker re-training and completing a degree later inlife to improve your career. The realm of personal fulfillment through lifelong learning is vast.There is the fulfillment that comes through mastering a subject. There is the joy that comes withpushing yourself to go outside your comfort zone to learn something new. There is the energyin gaining new perspectives. There is the freedom you feel learning how to express yourself in anew way. There is the self confidence that comes when you realize “I can do it.” And, for me, thereis the exhilaration that comes from being a part of this great community college.Whether or not your lifelong learning goals include Jefferson, I encourage each of you to be alifelong learner. You will be richer for it.Carole A. McCoyPresident, Jefferson Community CollegeJefferson Insider Winter 2011 • 3