Economic Downturn - The Best of Times, Especially For the Serious Student

I love that life is a challenge. I shop differently, I live differently, I work differently in 2009 than I did even one year ago. If I believed the newspapers, I'd believe the end of the world is upon us. But it isn't. Life is just different.

And this makes it all very exciting. I can't help but compare our current economic climate to the Great Depression. There is no getting away from the fact that the Depression was awful. Make no mistake, there is much bad news and scary parallels with what's going on today. But many people back then had little formal education. This made them very vulnerable in difficult times. Today, in 2009, so many people have solid formal education and skills. These do not disappear in a bad economic climate. Today access to education is vast and easy in comparison to the Great Depression. We hear a lot about corporate America, but the truth is educated owners of small businesses form the backbone of the economy. Knowledge makes people flexible and able to change as times change. It also means that in 2009, in spite of hard times, the accessibility of education make it the best of times to study.

That does not mean most college tuition won't keep going up; it will. But if it does, be sure you are getting your money's worth. And some institutions will learn to refocus. Do your homework. Find academic institutions that run leaner and focus on the goal of education instead of the niceties of campus life. For many this could mean some aspect of online study. Both public and private schools offer online courses and programs these days. But schools can seldom equip you with everything. So find other help as well. I'm all in favor of online help.

Think Great Depression again. Companies in the radio and printing mediums had boom times during the depression. Why? Because radio and printing were new and emerging mediums. What is the equivalent today? The internet of course. So make use of online studying options. Make use of good, free, online resources. Make use of good online help like academic editing and language reviewing when you need help with writing.

Start your online educational life by downloading your own copy of Language Online's 21 Proofreading Tips guide and requesting a weekly grammar tip. Indeed the best of times for the serious student.

Desray J Britz of Language Online enjoys writing on her blog about the issues that her clients ask about. Take a side trip to the site: http://blog.languageonline.us Desray invites you to comment on any blog post or to share a blog post you find interesting by using the ShareThis button.