Retirees: Keep Your Brain Active with Lifelong Learning

Winter is often a time to sit at home and be glad, as a senior citizen, you no longer have to face unfriendly weather to go to work each day. However, if you’re doing that, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. The Center for Lifelong Learning (CLL) at USCA offers a chance to keep your brain active through short courses on all sorts of interesting topics. The instructors range from professors at USC Aiken to local knowledgeable residents. The organization holds an open house at the beginning of each semester to kick off sign-ups for classes. For the first time this semester, a number of instructors were on hand at the open house to give potential students a preview of what they will teach. That took place Jan. 6; but it’s not too late to get on board, since classes don’t begin until Jan. 21. Feeling a little behind the curve on your electronics? There are classes to walk you through using your smartphone, your tablet, computer or even your watch. There are classes on Apple and Android devices, PCs and Macs, etc. Want to understand exactly what Artificial Intelligence is, there’s a class for that. How about local history? This semester brings classes on Aiken’s early days; changes in the 1950s; Historic Houses of Worship; Duels, Murders and Hangings in Aiken; Shady Characters of the Winter Colony; Aiken’s railroad history; aviation history; growing up in Aiken; vintage photographs; Edgefield Pottery; Irish Travelers; and Graniteville Company, not to mention several familiar local names, such as Martha Schofield, Eulalie Salleyand Dr. Matilda Arabella Evans. For anyone living in the Aiken area, a good choice is “Hands-on Nuclear Science: from Cookies to Quark.” Bill Wabbersen leads you through an interactive and fun journey to understanding what nuclear science is all about, even if you have no technical background. There are a number of classes on personal technology uses — password managers, smart home solutions, scams, home surveillance, computer security, Facebook security, Alexa, even family history research.