Back-to-School Vibes

Or: Social Media Meets the Personal Curriculum

Far more than the first of January, I consider September the start of the new year. I blame sixteen years of formal education. That’s a lot of back-to-school vibes. September brings change, a significant shift in the seasons—both physical and metaphorical—when you stock up on notebooks and pens, refresh your wardrobe, and get serious about your studies. It’s a time when bigger books—the sort that win awards—and Oscar-bait movies start releasing. A chance to decide what direction your life will take in the aftermath of summer vacation.

I move a lot in September. More than twenty years ago, I drove across the country over a week in September, accompanied by my mom, moving from Connecticut to California. Since then, I’ve had two more leases start in September, including for the apartment I’m settling into right now. Even in the Los Angeles area, where there’s no danger of getting caught out by snow, I feel the urge to get organized. Unpack, set the new routine, and prepare for whatever comes next, physically and intellectually. And let’s face it, there are other sorts of storms on the horizon.

Photo by Windows on Unsplash

A few weeks ago, I noticed an increase in videos and reels featuring people talking about their personal curriculum for the coming months. These people are not formal students, not enrolled in any level of school or university, but they are busy making lists of books, online resources, and supplies they need as they venture into some form of self-education. And what makes them stand out to me is that the majority of them have cited someone else’s video or reel or TikTok as their inspiration. It’s unclear who started this latest trend, since older and older videos keep surfacing, but in my internet circles at least, the concept just keeps on spreading.

The idea of a personal curriculum is far from new, even if the specific phrasing has become more popular. People have been taking their educations into their own hands for centuries, whether because they lacked the access or financial resources for a formal education, due to some perceived gap in their knowledge they wanted to fill, or simply because they understood the importance of continuing to stretch their brains and add to their skills and knowledge. And thanks to the internet, learning on one’s own has become easier than ever.

Type “personal curriculum” into your favorite search engine, and after you scroll down past the ridiculous AI definition, you’ll find dozens of posts from influencers and educators reporting on a recently crafted personal curriculum or handing out advice on how to format your own, including ideas for what to study and resources to check out. Personalized courses range from more academic topics to business-related skill acquisition to creative hobbies and athletic endeavors. Create a course load including classes from platforms such as Masterclass, Skillshare or Brilliant. Investigate Coursera or other open source syllabi offered up by various universities. Make a list of books to read and write short essays about them when you’re done. Start to learn a new language with Babbel or Duolingo. Join a slow read of a classic novel and discuss the book with fellow readers. Give yourself a series of writing prompts to work through. So many choices, and I love that this is possible.

Part of me, I’ll admit, wonders how much this bump in autodidactic conversation stems from a search for something new to talk about on social media. A video discussing a personal curriculum opens up the opportunity for hauls of books and notepaper, sticky tabs and fountain pen ink, plus sponsorship from various online learning platforms such as those mentioned above. So, while I applaud the surge in at-home study and the enthusiasm for learning, I want to weigh in on the topic from a slightly different angle.

Photo by amjd rdwan on Unsplash

Like many who enjoyed school, I do miss learning come September in an almost Pavlovian way. However, I don’t limit myself to the back-to-school season when it comes to furthering my own education. Part of the beauty of finishing school is you’re no longer on an academic calendar. Not only can you pick and choose what you’d like to learn, but you can do so whenever the mood strikes. Start studying that new language in spring so you’re ready for your summer trip. Spend your winter reading up on gardening techniques to prepare for planting season. Go down a rabbit hole on some obscure bit of history just because you saw it mentioned in a novel and want to know more. If you don’t have the time or bandwidth to study at the moment, don’t feel like you’re missing your chance. Self-study can happen at any time.

Personalized education also gives you the freedom to be timely. Universities design course catalogs far in advance, and while certain courses, by their very nature, can dip into current events, you’re unlikely to have a formal course that addresses up-to-the-moment shifts in politics, finance, or technology. Embrace the opportunity to be nimble in your choices, and do a deep dive into something making current headlines. (Though in some instances this might fall less in the learning-for-fun aisle and more in the self-preservation section.)

Please don’t think you need to break the bank to set yourself a personal curriculum. For every paid course or resource online and in your community, there are dozens of free websites and YouTube videos and podcasts talking about a million subjects. You can also:

• Embrace your library. If they’re lacking something you need for your topic, master the interlibrary loan system.

• Trade knowledge with your friends. Get their help with a subject they’re familiar with and offer up your own expertise.

• Pick up cheap drugstore notebooks or take notes entirely on your laptop. The beauty of learning from home is you don’t need the season’s cool new notebook style (cough*Trapper Keepers*cough), because no one will see what you’re using.

Furthering your education is important. The world keeps changing once we leave school, and we don’t want to get left behind. Our brains will stay sharper if we keep forcing them to work for it.

Learning allows us to determine our path, even as it twists and turns ahead of us. Designing an entire semester of study can be empowering, but remember you can start small. Study one thing you’ve always been curious about or that you feel will enhance your life in some way.

Plus, knowledge makes you a more interesting person. And a more interesting writer. You never know what kernel of information will someday bloom into a book.

---

I type this sitting on an air mattress in my new apartment. My furniture gets delivered on Tuesday. In the meantime, I’m camping out. Camping in? Paper plates, microwave, internet, and a tote bag of books.

Chatty book talk, most likely, for the next post. I had a long drive and went through a few audiobooks last week. Road trips make for strange reading choices. Do any of you find that, too? I will listen, a captive audience, to things I rarely choose to read on paper. But more on that next time.

Meanwhile, I’d love to hear if any of you are joining the personal curriculum trend, or if maybe there’s just something in particular you’re fascinated by right now. Please do share in comments.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend, filled with sunshine and good books and maybe some time to write. Until the next one!🥰