St. Louis Community College’s Plus 50 Completion Initiative recently sponsored a lectured by Marc Freedman of Encore.org. He spoke to about 100 people at the Forest Park campus’ Mildred E. Bastian Center for the Performing Arts about the role of higher education.
The lecture addressed all age groups from different points of view for the audience. Freedman used videos during his two-hour lecture to emphasize how we have to adjust our lifestyle according to our age. He said, “We can’t have people spending 30 years in sustainable leisure” because we must prepare for where we want to be by the age of 50.
He also discussed that millions of people are in the midst of inventing a new stage of life. These areas are focused on work, between the end of midlife and anything resembling old-fashioned retirement. Freedman related to his audience by pointing out that adults are looking for a change in their second half of life. He also acknowledged that “people want work that has a social impact.” Making the most of your life sets the tone for the later part after age 50 hits.
“Mostly it’s a positive opportunity,” he said, to take advantage of a second chance. He encouraged everyone to make better choices for their future. He said that “20-year-olds don’t think about this” area of their lives because they’re in the moment of being young.
Freedman added that “classmates pass away” and this impacts others also. When you lose someone close to you it often makes you reflect on your own life and reevaluate things. He described this reevaluation as “fewer years left ahead than behind.”
Freedman is founder and CEO of Encore.org, a nonprofit organization working to promote encore careers, acts for the greater good, jobs that combine personal meaning, continued income and social impact in the second half of life. While Encore.org is not a job placement service, it provides free, comprehensive information that helps people transition to jobs in the nonprofit world and the public sector.
He is the author of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife and a frequent commentator in the national media. He has been recognized by Fast Company magazine three straight years as one of the nation’s leading social entrepreneurs. In 2012, AARP Magazine named Freedman one of “The Influentials,” the 50 people over 50 affecting individuals’ lives and futures.
St. Louis Community College provides programs through Plus 50 at all four campuses. This program gives an alternative for people over 55 years of age who may have career but want a change. Plus 50 Completion Concierge gets you energized to obtain a degree or certificate. Individuals receive support and flexibility to help reach their goals, from choosing a course of study and scheduling classes to applying for financial aid.
For more information about the program, contact STLCC by phone or online at stlcc.edu.
