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Keep learning with College of Lake County courses
Contributing columnist Lenna Scott
Updated: July 22, 2012 7:53PM
There is a saying that “education is wasted on youth.” Not that it isn’t important for the younger part of our community to learn, but that when adults learn, they can apply their experiences and life knowledge to enhance their educational experience.
For the 16th summer, the College of Lake County is offering special learning opportunities targeted at adults 50 and over.
Quest is two week-long series of classes, each on a specific topic. This year the two themes are: “Our Brave New World of Science and Technology” which was offered earlier this month, and “Happy Days - Celebrate the ‘50s” running from July 16-19.
The Quest classes use a model much like Elderhostel experiences. Each Quest class meets for four consecutive days from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and studies a single topic from multiple angles, including lectures, discussions and a catered lunch each day.
“We look at a particular subject, say the 1950s. Instead of focusing on one area, the music of that decade, we look at it from all sides. Magazines, journalism, culture as a whole. It’s a multiple focus,” said Karen Trush, marketing director for the Workforce and Professional Development Institute of the College of Lake County, whose department oversees the program. “The quest program is in-depth learning.”
Lectures being offered during the “Happy Days” course include: “Lucy vs. Laura: How TV Reflected the Changing Role of Women,” where students will discuss how different portrayals of women in the 1950s represented the evolving roles of women and the changes in the medium of television. And a course titled “I have in my hand a list of names …” that examines McCarthyism and the culture of fear surrounding the Soviet Union, Communism and the atom bomb.
According to Trush, these courses are very different from typical classes, in part because of a different attitude among the students in the Quest program.
“This is not your typical college class where you sit and listen to a lecture,” Trush said. “These are very active learners. They really appreciate the opportunity to have a variety of information available to them. Classes are presented in a format that is very participatory.”
Quest faculty comes from the full-time and adjunct faculty at the college. The courses are offered at the CLC Southlake Campus, 1120 S. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills.
For students busy during the summer, CLC also offers additional classes for adult learners who want an opportunity to extend their learning, through the CLC Discovery! program. Discovery! is billed as a program for adult learners with a young attitude. The program includes tours, lectures and short-term classes at campuses and sites throughout Lake County.
Trush says Quest and other programming through the Center for Personal Enrichment at CLC is a great opportunity for seniors to connect with other active seniors. “It’s the ability to come and share some time with like-minded learners. The lifelong learner, they are just pursuing knowledge.”
More information on Quest 2012 and other programming can be found on the CLC website www.clcillinois.edu or by calling the Discovery!/Quest hotline at (847) 543-6507.
Lenna Scott is the marketing director at The Wealshire, a short-term rehab, skilled nursing and assisted living community in Lincolnshire. She lives in Buffalo Grove with her husband and two children. Contact her at lscott@wealshire.com.
