The Lemon Life | online magazine offering a fresh perspective on post-grad life.

Words By: Jodie Shupac

Image By: Erika Thompson

(special thanks to: atomicjeep, bdjsb7 & srboisvert)

Graduation has come and gone, albeit ceremoniously, but the jig is up and it’s time to level with your overeducated self. Without the pressure of looming deadlines and daunting reading lists, even the most pretentious of former students may realize that he or she is not so motivated to pursue the ‘fruits of learning for its own sake.’  Whether this discovery becomes a source of liberation or concern, the question remains: Will you continue to learn in the unstructured aftermath of academia, or will your brain stagnate and fester?

As undergraduates, we are frequently reminded of our intellectual superiority. But now that we have been released from our lofty academic dominion to live among the masses, it becomes apparent that, if you’re an arts grad, no one gives a shit about the shit you learned and (again, for the arts grads) most people don’t want to hire you, let alone praise you.

With nothing but soul-crushing jobs and a lack of faculty validation, rallying to self-learn sounds intimidating. And if you do manage to achieve this feat through the powers of self-motivation, can personal satisfaction be fulfilling, without the prospect of external praise? Should we quit learning altogether?

I think not. For those graduates who are worried about their loss of brain function, alternate forms of education can be found. These include choosing to read a book on the subway instead of assuming a blank stare, or embracing the embarrassing option of Continuing Education classes. No longer nestled in the soft bosom of academia, it may be time to pick up the dorky hobbies that the post-grad experience offers.  At the very least, start subscribing to the Economist.

I spoke to two recent graduates, Mitchell and Peter, about their quests for further education outside of the classroom.

1.How do you keep your mind sharp and agile, now that you’re no longer in school? Mitchell: I’ve started to do the Metro crossword puzzle consistently. It makes me feel smart and wards off Alzheimer’s. There’s been a few times recently that I solved the whole thing on the TTC and had no one to tell. I left it on the seat hoping someone would pick it up and be like, “that guy’s a genius.”

Peter: I read a lot more stuff that’s interesting to me now. I take Spanish classes, which can be intellectually demanding, but also really fun. It’s not as challenging as a university class in Spanish would be. It moves slowly. But I still learn a lot.

2. Do you think that out-of-school learning allows you more freedom to pursue personal interests than academic learning, or are you trying to simulate university learning out of nostalgia?

M: Sometimes I try to assign myself educational projects. I’ve read more intelligent books on my own time this year than ever before. When you’re in school the books you want to read for fun tend to be dumb. But this year I read the Brothers Karizamov.

P: I don’t think I’m trying to simulate university learning. I think what I’m learning now is out of personal interest. My Spanish class is something I’m actually choosing to do, more so than an individual course in university. I’m paying directly out of my own pocket to do it. If I didn’t want to do it, then I would just stop.

4. Do your non-academic learning experiences make you feel young and fresh, or do they make you feel forty-five?

M: Sometimes I give myself reading projects and I wonder if this is what it’ll be like when I’m retired. Sometimes I wonder if learning has the same value if no one knows about it. I do feel more of an impetus to go to speakers or political lectures now that I’m not in school, more so than when I was in school. I mean, I still don’t go, but I feel like I should.

P: They don’t make me feel young or old. It doesn’t make me feel differently about my age at all. It definitely feels more like a hobby than formal education in university.

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