I ran into an acquaintance today who is finishing the second year of U of Chicago’s Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults. I’m one who encouraged her to go. Due to my pain issues, I had to drop out after the third year of the four-year program. With a life-long interest in learning, I dream of going back someday to finish.

I loved (most of) the process of getting my diploma, bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD in nursing (and write about those experiences in Caring Lessons). But I always regretted not having many liberal arts courses, and the U of C program is the perfect opportunity at any age to finally read Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Dante, Darwin, Freud and many others. I know I can do the readings on my own, but with the U of C professors and like-minded adult peers, the program is a really fun day out.

If you don’t live in Chicago, perhaps there’s a similar program near you.