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In high school, I experienced a rare generational inflection point. My freshman English class was the last one taught by Sister Wilhelmina, a very old-school Vincencian sister: floor-length habit, fifteen-decade rosary, wimple. At that time, most of the sisters were wearing regular clothing, but Sister Wilhelmina seemed to relish her anachronistic ways. One of the things that I remember about her is that the first day of class, she had us calculate how much each day at school cost our parents in tuition. Each day, we were supposed to tell our parents that we had received $8.53 or whatever in learning—and, of course, we were supposed to be truthful. (It was the early 1980s, so Catholic high school wasn’t terribly expensive. Also, the drinking age was 18 and boys were allowed to smoke at lunch*.)
Sister Wilhelmina was selling herself cheap. Members of religious orders worked for far less than market rate, and education is incredibly valuable. It builds human capital and the life of the mind. Learning new things helps people get better jobs and promotions; it helps people stay fresh whether and navigate the world.
And, despite being so valuable, there are a ton of ways to learn for free. Here’s a list to get you started, if you’re looking for something to do when the polar vortex hits again.
Coursera: Coursera is a platform that allows different universities to offer courses. A lot of these carry a charge, but not all.
Duolingo: a free language app that can help you pick up basic vocabulary and grammar.
MIT: MIT makes many of its courses available to the public for free. Most of these cover technical and engineering topics, but there a few on world music that look fascinating. You can’t contact the professor or get a grade, but don’t let that stop you.
Stanford: Stanford also has an extensive list of free online courses covering a full liberal arts curricula. If you want to pay extra, you can get a grade or a certificate.
Your library: Public libraries have a ton of educational resources, and not just books. For example, Chicago Public Library patrons have free access to LinkedIn Learning, for courses on business and technology, and Mango Languages, which offers more depth than Duolingo. If you live in a well-funded suburban community, you probably have access to even more. Talk to the librarian if you want to learn something in particular, for information on books and other materials that you can use.
YouTube: Seemingly everything has been filmed and put on YouTube. Want to learn a new hobby? Watch videos from the last Atlantic Magazine Festival? I just spent time with a video on how to rig a spinnaker on a Sonar sailboat. YouTube has a lot of dreck, but it also has some fantastic information.
Do you know of a good, free learning resources? Please, let us know in the comments.
*A total aside, but one of the more bizarre experiences I had in high school took place at an assembly that the principal had with the junior and senior girls. At the time, my high school had a dress code instead of a uniform, very unusual for a Catholic school. The principal asked if we had any questions, and one of my friends asked why boys could smoke at lunch but not girls. Shouldn’t everyone be able to smoke? Or no one? The principal told her to shut up and quit complaining or he’d make us wear the ugly uniforms that the other Catholic high school in town had. The early 80s were seriously weird.