School’s (Still) in Session

by Christina Maxwell

It may have been years since we laid out our carefully selected first day outfit and filled our little backpacks with brand new #2 pencils, composition books and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  But something about the arrival of September always fills us with that eager back-to-school feeling.  Maybe it’s watching all of the little ones race off to their new classroom with untainted enthusiasm or the new crisp feeling in the air as August gives way to the slight chill of September, but we’re feeling like it’s a time for new lessons and new beginnings.

No matter how old we are, we’re never too old to go back to school.  At no point in life should we feel that we have stopped learning, growing or changing.  It is never too late to learn or become something new.  As the kids in our lives turn to a new chapter, we can follow their lead and do the same in our own lives.  Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn?  A career you’ve always dreamed of pursuing?

Our own Roberto Coin didn’t start out as a jewelry designer.  He spent years working as a successful hotel manager before he decided to leave his career to follow a dream and face a new and passionate adventure—a dream that became one of the world’s premier jewelers.

Roberto isn’t the only one who took a leap of faith to try something new.  Before Walt Disney became an entrepreneur, animator, producer and engineer of many of our childhood dreams, he was a newspaper editor.  (By the way, he was fired because, apparently, he lacked imagination.)  Julia Child worked for the CIA before she mastered French cuisine and made it accessible to the American public.  Actor Harrison Ford was a carpenter and singer Andrea Bocelli was a lawyer.  What if we, too, dared to try something new?

Even if diving into a whole new career is a little much for this fall, take advantage of the freshness and momentum of September and take a small step to try something new.  Haven’t you always wanted to try your hand at the cello, learn to speak Mandarin or finally break out the pasta maker still sitting on the shelf in that box?  Go ahead and sign up for that wine tasting, pottery class or mini lecture on Medieval Literature.  Dare to step out of the comfortable to learn something new and you just might discover a surprising talent, love or passion that could bring an added richness to your days.

And for that, you definitely deserve a gold star.