The following two quotes are attributed to the late science fiction writer Isaac Asimov: "Education isn't something you can finish." "Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." The prolific Asimov, who wrote or edited over 500 books and penned roughly 90,000 postcards and letters in his lifetime, was absolutely correct on both counts. It's a shame that in this age of rapid technological advancement, students leave education in the rear-view mirror, maintaining that their learning days are surely over. But who says that we have to dump our books in crates as soon as we snag our diploma? Why not continue delving into Shakespeare, Newton, or Lincoln even after we've left the Ivory Tower? What many people fail to realize is that schools, colleges, and universities merely scratch the surface of the course offerings they make available to students. You can't possibly expect more than a cursory look, for exa...

Can you guess the one thing no one can take from you? If you said learning , knowledge , or education , you've hit the nail on the head. People can break into your house and steal your jewelry. They can snoop through your drawers at work and snag the million dollar idea you wrote on a post-it note. But no one can magically teleport into your brain and pilfer your knowledge. What's in the mind stays in the mind. That's why we should all aim to nourish our minds with as much information as we possibly can. The more we learn, the more we enrich ourselves. Human beings have a tendency to want to conserve their mental resources wherever possible. But thinking critically keeps the brain sharp, whether we're playing Scrabble or dreaming up ways to get a new business off the ground. Leonardo da Vinci once said, "Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets." Fortunately, you're never too young or too old to lea...

Isaac Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. His copious body of work -- he wrote or edited more than 500 books and roughly 90,000 letters and postcards -- spanned a myriad of genres ranging from science fiction to history and chemistry. He is perhaps best known for his Foundation and Robot series. His books have been published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification. Asimov once said the following, with which I wholeheartedly concur: "Education never ends." So short and sweet, and yet so powerful a statement. I've seen clips on YouTube of many of his interviews. Asimov championed self-learning and fretted that many people cease trying to learn new things once they graduate from high school or college. He foresaw that one day technology would enable people to educate themselves without having to set foot in a school (i.e., the internet). Unfortunately, he did not live to see how the World Wide Web has mad...

We're a couple of days into November. Before we know it, Christmas and the end of the year will be upon us. What are you most looking forward to this month? Some people say it's Thanksgiving. The most budget-minded among us await Black Friday with great anticipation. Still others are preparing giddily for colder weather. I'll be frank: While Thanksgiving is surely one of the things I am looking forward to the most, it doesn't sit in the top spot in my book. That distinction belongs to Election Day! I can hardly contain my excitement as I write this but, indeed, it all ends -- finally -- in three days. While there's no doubt we'll continue to see Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the news well after Tuesday -- no matter who becomes president -- it's a relief to know that one of the nastiest elections in American history is drawing to a close at last. I think most of us have grown very tired of the mudslinging and want a winner to be declared...

I've noticed that many employers couldn't care less about your educational background these days. I've gone to myriad interviews thus far in my career. From what I can remember, only one has ever commented on or raised questions about my degree. I wouldn't be surprised if many crafty people who don't hold a bachelor's degree fudge their resumes to include one and end up getting away with it. Large, structured organizations (e.g., Fortune 500 companies, the federal government, etc.) are more likely to conduct background checks to verify that you earned one, but many small businesses and start-ups that watch every penny don't bother. Everyone and his brother has a bachelor's degree, which is why many people say the bachelor's degree is the new high school diploma. In general, job seekers need to rely on more than the degree to set themselves apart. Indeed, recruiters tend to zero in on two particular things that they see as being far more valu...

In the Republican debate on Tuesday, senator Marco Rubio said the following: "We need more welders and less philosophers." If the point Rubio was trying to drive home is that we need more people in stable, well-paying jobs, I agree -- but I don't think he articulated it properly. His statement, in my opinion, smacks of anti-intellectualism. As I've stated in many of my posts, we live in a time where being intellectually-driven puts you in the minority. Conversing about the solar system or the American Revolution isn't as "cool" or easy as talking about the Kardashians. One thing a social psychology professor I had in college once told my class that has since stayed firmly etched in my mind: Human beings are cognitive misers; we are naturally inclined to waste as few mental resources as possible. Is it any wonder, then, that most people can't name the capitals of five U.S. states? Or that many don't know when the Civil War took place and...

All of us have gripes with certain things about our present lives, whether it's being stuck in a dead-end job, not having enough friends, being overweight, or just feeling like we're in a monotonous rut. This has some of us feeling rather depressed or even wallowing in self-pity. The secret to life is not what happens to you, but how you react to and deal with such circumstances. I'll give you an example: While I blog and freelance on the side, my day job is as a copywriter in the travel industry. While I enjoy working in the travel business, I sometimes feel as though I'm doing nothing truly meaningful in the private sector; it's all about the bottom line and helping the big-wigs get richer. I found my college days to be the best time of my life, largely because I loved learning, studying, and challenging myself to get A's and graduate with a high G.P.A. (I take pride in the fact that I graduated summa cum laude with a 3.91 G.P.A.). Thus, I yearn to eventua...