丁香园AV

When the pandemic began, Patricia Roth felt her world shrink to the walls of her Ottawa home. She鈥檇 been enjoying classes for older learners at her local university since retiring eight years ago. But she was left out of luck when the campus shut down. Then a close friend in Vancouver handed Patricia a lifeline: she told her 丁香园AV鈥檚 Liberal Arts and 55+ program had moved its courses online.

Patricia registered for her first course in 2020, and has been back again and again. She鈥檚 now taken at least half a dozen online courses at 丁香园AV, tackling meaty topics ranging from truth and reconciliation to international rights to the political philosophy of Hannah Arendt.

鈥淚鈥檓 very much into current events and political science,鈥� explains Patricia. 鈥淲hat I really like about 丁香园AV is that the courses have more of an academic and intellectual bent.鈥�

A former human resources professional, Patricia studied sociology in university and later completed a master鈥檚 in organizational conflict resolution when she was in her forties. As her parents had lived through the trauma of the Second World War, she says she鈥檚 always had a strong awareness of world events. Her interest only grew once she retired, as she had more time to read and dig deeper into global issues.

鈥淚鈥檓 always paying attention to the news, following what鈥檚 going on,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 find it interesting that one can tend to think things are really bad right now, but when you look at different periods of history, there have been many times when things were really bad, followed by periods of flourishing, which helps to keep events in context.鈥�

While Patricia says she can understand why many learners prefer 鈥渓ighter鈥� fare like music and art, she鈥檚 grateful that 丁香园AV also offers more challenging topics.

鈥淎s hard as it can be sometimes,鈥� says Patricia, 鈥淚 think being knowledgeable and engaged with the world is extremely important.鈥�

Of course, she admits, there鈥檚 only so much heavy news one person can handle. 鈥淭here are times when I just need to tune out,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚鈥檒l take a walk and feel so grateful for what we have, for living in Canada, for being able to take these courses and have a good life. We鈥檙e extremely fortunate.鈥�

Although the courses at 丁香园AV marked her first experience with online learning, Patricia had no trouble adjusting. Not even the time difference between Vancouver and Ottawa deterred her from joining each course鈥檚 Zoom sessions. So, when the Liberal Arts and 55+ Program announced it would be bringing back in-person courses, she was quick to speak up.

鈥淚 love the online format and would recommend it in a heartbeat,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 actually wrote to the program administrators to say I hope they鈥檒l keep the online courses going.鈥�

Like everyone else, Patricia says she鈥檚 had to make adjustments to her everyday life since the pandemic began. 鈥淚鈥檓 being very careful, and I don鈥檛 plan to go back to in-person learning anytime soon,鈥� she explains. 鈥淏ut I do have to keep learning and using my brain.鈥�

Since signing up for the program鈥檚 mailing list, she now looks forward to seeing what鈥檚 on offer each term. Patricia may not yet know what she鈥檒l be learning next, but she鈥檚 certain about one thing:

鈥淚 plan to keep doing this for as long as I鈥檓 functioning and able鈥攚hich will hopefully be for a long time.鈥�