Scaling the knowledge curve

Dramatically updating your knowledge base mid-career may demand superhuman dedication but promises ample rewards, writes Johnny Gin, who is simultaneously studying for a Bachelor's and a Master's degree

In today's ultra-competitive marketplace, companies must continually innovate in order to stay nanoseconds ahead of rivals. As the president of a large consumer electronics company once said, businesses need to make their own products obsolete because, if they do not, somebody else will. The same dictum holds true for individuals' skills and knowledge.

I earned my first degree in English literature over 15 years ago. Although I had continued to hone my writing and research skills, my knowledge base was beginning to feel a bit creaky. In a world of MP3s, I was going the way of the eight-track tape.

I knew that I had to remake my knowledge landscape but, for a long time, I fretted about what it was that I wanted to study. One day, as I was watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it hit me. Not that I should study preternaturalism, although that would have been my second choice, but that I should take a degree in library science. This might not prepare me for a career impaling the walking dead, but it certainly seemed to be a natural extension of my love of books and research.

After digging through some prospectuses, I decided to take the Charles Sturt University Bachelor of Arts in Library and Information Science (LIS), a diploma course leading to a BA and held in association with the University of Hong Kong School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKU SPACE). At the same time, I discovered a Master in Communications jointly offered by HKU SPACE and California State University Fullerton (CSUF).

Holding down a full-time job and tackling two degrees at the same time might be a kamikaze effort. However, as I was so far behind on the knowledge curve, I felt that it was important, even vital, to possess cross-disciplinary skills and acquire them as early as humanly possible, so I took on both programmes.

The LIS degree is a three-year distance-learning programme, tutored by local library professionals, while the communications degree offers a mix of online courses and face-to-face instruction by CSUF professors. Many communication and information-processing theories apply to both fields of scholarship and I now think of them as complementary disciplines.

One of the most perplexing things about returning to school after many years is that, although everything now moves at broadband speed, it takes just as long to read a book today as it did 15 or 50 years ago. Fortunately, my training in literature has helped me to handle the copious amount of reading and writing, which has given me a slight edge.

Indeed, I have found that taking two programmes has helped me to remain better focused. I no longer procrastinate and dwell on my assignments as I did the first time around. As soon as I have completed one assignment, I move on to the next. There is no time to dither.

In the beginning I had minor anxiety attacks, but my fears faded soon after the classes began. Good instructors are important, particularly for part-time students, in terms of keeping them interested and motivated. The positive reinforcements and encouraging comments that the class received went a long way toward easing initial doubts and concerns.

As expected, the ride has been both challenging and satisfying. Now that I have worked up a sweat, I wonder why it took me so long to get back into the game.

Taken from Career Times 2003/08/29
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