Diann Olszowy Jones

While working in the commercial insurance industry, I decided to pursue a master’s degree in adult education. My master’s capstone was entitled Developing a Product for Recruiting and Retaining Baby Boomers to a University.

As a mid-life career changer, I proceeded to earn a Ph.D. in Adult Education. As a graduate student, I sought opportunities to work on a variety of projects, including becoming a managing editor for the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. This small step to take classes has been transformed into a passion for non-traditional students returning to higher education and the need to make higher education institutions more relevant.

This concept of encore is alive and well within higher education. There are so many opportunities for our well-educated baby boomer generation to re-enter higher education in a myriad of roles to transform their knowledge and skills to a different capacity.  Moreover, working with diverse age groups is fun.

A key highlight of Encore.org is social purpose. Similarly, many scholars and community partners call this “community engagement,” collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities to address critical social issues and contribute to the public good.

The lesson I am learning is to simply insert oneself into the process. For my post-doc year, I am attending three community engagement conferences and presenting my work. In my city, I attended a city council meeting for the first time and found avenues to pursue.

From these experiences, I gained confidence to transition by exposing me to people of very diverse backgrounds and thought – life-altering. Transitions are exciting but daunting. I am still on the journey!

My thought is we might be too hung up on, “I do not know what I want to do” syndrome. The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard concludes eloquently what I believe many of us are striving for: “If I was to wish for anything, I would not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of what can be, for the eye, which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible.” The solutions to many of our world challenges, issues, and disruptions are right in front of us. Through organizations like Encore.org and others, we will find each other and pursue possibility – a journey worth taking.

Let us see the possibility!