Valen’s Vanity Square

Weekend is over, tomorrow’s Monday and it will be time to go back to work again.

Every Sunday night, I feel like as if I was saying goodbye to a lover; I would be missing him, thinking of him, desiring him for the next 5 days before I get to see him and embrace him again. Haha!

Oh well, that’s life. Just have to accept the fact that we all have to work in order to make ends meet and to survive.

Not much for me to complain about actually, as I am already more fortunate than most working people are. I have a husband to send me to work everyday (unless he’s not in town), someone who is willing to cook for me even after work, never complain about me not sweeping the floor for one whole month.

And at home at night, I can spend all the time I like surfing the net or watching TV. I know that there are many working adults out there who study part-timely, spending their evening hours attending classes or doing writing assignments. All for the sake of a better future.

But people nowadays are much fortunate in the sense that some courses are available online when attending a traditional classroom lesson is not possible.

For example, in US, medical assisting school offer online study programs for those who want to learn the knowledge and skills to become a medical assistant, but are not able to physically attend classes conducted by the school.

Educational programs such as this can help a lot of people really. More people will have the opportunity to get educated and acquire skills to develop their dream career.

I hope the tertiary institutions in our country would offer something like that in the future, because it indirectly help parents save a lot - children don’t have to travel to school, students need not leave home to live in another town, thus avoiding additional expenses such as rental and petrol.

Hubby was complaining how his company has not been sending him to attend industry-related short courses over the past 2 years, and that deprived him of the opportunity (free one) to upgrade himself or add some more self-value.

That remind me if I should also look out for short-term courses or programs that are related to writing, as that will be more applicable to my current job. I definitely won’t be taking up a full degree program such as MBA.

Speaking of MBA, which hubby completed and got his degree several years ago, I think our local tertiary educational system has made it easy for anyone who wants to further their studies in MBA. Students need not take special tests to qualify to enroll into the course; everything is based on the results of their first degree or relevant working experience.

Whereas in the US or other English-speaking countries, a standardized test called the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is used to test the mathematics and English levels of the applicants, and thereby measure their aptitude to succeed academically in the graduate business studies, before they are admitted into the program. There are several sections to test the applicant’s verbal, mathematical, and analytical writing skills.

Scary? Well, it doesn’t have to be. There are actually gmat prep courses that provide trainings and practices to prepare one for the test. Online courses are available, but one has to compare to see which one suits the needs better in terms of cost and duration. The program provider’s credibility and track results should also be taken into consideration.

If you are interested to know more about a gmat prep course, the Knewton gmat prep course is one of those available online.

If your 2010 resolution is to add some self value, upgrade your knowledge or skills, or even get yourself an additional certification or degree, then go for it!

If your excuse is that you won’t have time to become a full-time student because you have a job, this can be solved. You can either look for a course that allows you to do it on a part-time basis, or you can even sign up for an online university, such as the Western Governors University (WGU).

For your information, WGU is a non-profit online university that offer more affordable tuition fees than other online universities. It is a fully accredited online education institution, so you don’t have to worry that your qualification not being recognized by employees. Many of WGU students are working full-time or part-time jobs. If you think that you may be too old for education, well, the average age of the WGU student is about 36.

If you are interested in their online mba program, you can always contact their student counselor and get any of your questions answered. At WGU, they emphasize on providing the best support to their students.

The approach of assessment at WGU is rather different from other online universities. They don’t ask you to accumulate credit hours, they are more interested if you have developed competence and are able to translate what you learned into usable knowledge and skills. This means that you are less likely to struggle between work, family, and study, because most of the time you’ll be the one who decides when and where you study.

If you are interested to learn more about WGU, you can actually look at some videos about this online university at http://www.youtube.com/westerngovernorsuniv.