…than going to school, signing up for classes, or paying lavishly for private lessons. If you prefer to figure things out by yourself, studying can be made much more comfortable, effective, and rewarding than sitting in dull classes from 8:15 till 16:00. Let me tell you why…
1. You can choose what to study
When you are your own teacher, you are also the one who decides what to study. Functioning as your own teacher of course makes yourself responsible for creating your own syllabus, but with this freedom you can choose to focus on something specific, and eliminate all unnecessary things.
If you decide to study, say, web design, you can choose which areas to include in your syllabus. If you are particularly interested in creating vector graphics with Illustrator, you can focus on Illustrator and omit Photoshop and other tools. Or you can learn HTML and CSS without wasting time on programs such as Dreamweaver. This approach will not only save you time but also narrow down the list of things needed to learn the skill (web design) by keeping you focused on the essentials.
If you think you’re missing something, you can always supplement the things you already have with appropriate additions. And if something seems unnecessary, you have the freedom to drop it at will. Again, you’re focusing on the essentials. You will be constantly reviewing your syllabus, so it always remain fresh.
2. You don’t have to waste time on compulsory subjects
Students constantly complain about this—and rightly so. High school and university programs are filled with compulsory subjects that are more of a nuisance to students than of true value. And I believe the benefits gained from taking compulsory subjects is entirely subjective, and depends on the individual student. Let your study plan tell you what you should learn. Allow yourself to be confident about your decisions. Institutions shouldn’t be treated as the only authority for creating well-rounded syllabi.
For example, most people probably think that physics is strongly connected with mathematics. I mean, something like F=ma is exactly that, mathematics. But instead of studying math as a subject of its own, we could focus on physics and only study math when needed.
The same thing goes with computer programming. Math may condition our “mathematical faculties” to operate more logically, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Having studied programming at university, I can say that while math is relevant to computer programming, it isn’t absolutely necessary. So if I were to learn programming, I would first examine what I want to accomplish with it. If I want to specialize in creating online shopping carts with PHP, I would definitely eliminate math from my list. I just don’t need to waste time on it. I can instead invest that time and effort in programming practical applications.
3. You don’t have to get up early in the morning
Not having to wake up at 7:05 on cold, rainy mornings sounds awesome. You can just get up, take a hot shower, brew a cup of coffee, and go to your studies. Here we’re assuming, of course, that nothing else is hindering you from sleeping in and going out in the morning (if you work in the evening shift, or work from home).
4. You can design your own schedule
If you have a good study plan, you can also make an effective and comfortable schedule for yourself. You don’t have to deal with idle hours between classes, because you can allocate the appropriate amount of time to each task in your study plan, and time them according to your own daily schedule.
5. You don’t have to take tests
You don’t have to prove yourself with tests when the examiner is you. If you are planning to acquire professional skills, your employer or customer will be your examiner. So when you’re studying on your own with a strong purpose, you won’t be needing any exams because you are in control of your own progress and objectives.
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Self-Learner is a blog about self-education and self-improvement based lifestyle design. Goal? To become the best "version" of yourself, and feel excited to jump out of your bed every morning.
3 Responses to “5 Reasons Why Studying on Your Own Is Better”
I’m a huge fan of selflearning. I’ve done a course of Algebra on MIT’s opencourseware and Programming Methodology with Stanford’s lectures.
I just love our era. The opportunity this universities are giving to people are huge. They can offer highquality education to anyone, anywhere. It doesn’t matter if you are already graduate or come from a small village with not even a high school degree.
I’m actually studying business & management at a local university. I would love to take classes of biology, advanced programming, architecture, bioengeneering, etc, but I just can’t, so things like this open us paths, giving us infinite choices of what to study.
My only problem is the focus, I sometimes feel bored with business and just wish to start studying another thing, unluckly, the years pass by, and you need to start gaining money. At this moment I don’t know if I should continue with my degree (I’m on second year) or if I should dropout and start studying biology. I feel that I already learned all what I needed regarding business
.
That’s a familiar feeling.
Other opportunities can be really tempting. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. But since you’re already a second-year student, you should finish your degree while holding on to the desire to study biology. You can do biology later. And like you said, there are so many other means to study things.
Fact is, a dropout is always seen as a dropout—no matter how much you know about your subject. While there certainly are ways to leverage yourself by marketing your assets and eventually establishing an expert status, the most obvious option for you at this point would be to endure the temptation and grab that degree.
If you want to start your own business then finishing your degree won’t matter much, but employers are easier to “convince” if you have an official statement of your capabilities.
That’s the best anrswe of all time! JMHO