Learn new skills as an adult

If you’ve always wanted to finish your college degree or have a bucket list of new skills that you’d like to learn, the Oklahoma City area has several institutions that will help you fulfill the dreams of what you really want to be when you grow up. Yes, we realize you’re probably grown up by now, but it’s always fun to learn something new or brush up on skills or certifications that you need for the job you already have.

Here are some ways to make those dreams happen in the metro in the area of adult continuing education:

• Oklahoma City Community College in south Oklahoma City has a Community Outreach and Education Office at 6500 S Land Ave. that offers short-term, noncredit courses for adults, senior citizens and children. Some of them are for fun, while others will help students improve basic skills. They include music, drama, science (including computer training), math, language, arts and crafts, reading, writing and ACT test preparation. For information, go online or call (405) 682-7859 or (405) 682-7873. Just looking at the course schedule for this year made us want to learn all kinds of new skills, like beginning Spanish, ballroom dance and sign language.
• With a tagline of “Preparing for Life,” Metro Technology Centers offers an assortment of courses on several campuses throughout the metro area, whether you’re located south, north or downtown. At Metro Tech, you can take classes for career or technical programs or learn a new skill in one of their Adult and Career Development short-term courses. Metro Tech also offers certification courses for specific jobs. Around here, we thought we might want to brush up on our photography or video editing skills in one of the short-term courses, like “Secrets of Better Photography,” which also happens to be taught online.
• The Francis Tuttle Technology Center, which has campuses in Edmond and west Oklahoma City, serves high school juniors and seniors, as well as adults with career-specific training or personal enrichment needs. According to its website, the center also offers business and industry training and consulting services, short-term training for career enhancement or courses in leisure activities. Take the courses online or on campus. While jewelry making or one of the Culinary Delights classes (with subjects like “Biscotti, Crackers and Scones” or “Sushi Making”) were quite tempting, we might use the opportunity at Francis Tuttle instead to go back to school to get a real estate license. Check out the course catalog.
• Oklahoma City University, located in the middle of Oklahoma City at 2501 N Blackwelder, has several continuing education programs that address specific needs – certification in nonprofit leadership or child advocacy, for example. It also offers an Adult Degree Completion Program for busy adults to help you finish what you started years ago.