Correct me if I'm wrong, but a lot of you have probably had taken at least once online course during this pandemic. Throughout the lockdown, most of my friends became plant titas, some finally did the Chloe Ting workout challenges they've been planning to do, and others caught up on things they've pushed back for however long already... while I, myself, also did random things to kill time, but free online courses took up most of it.

I'm a certified homebody, so staying at home was never a problem to me. But my anxiety was still as its highest peak when the lockdown was imposed. It's easy for me to find things to do to entertain and keep myself busy, but after a week or two into the lockdown, I ran out of ideas! I was fearing for my health and that of my loved ones, so it was hard enough to stay sane. I did cooking, spring cleaning, self-care, home workouts, reading, catching up with friends online, and all that, but it wasn't until I started e-learning that I became at ease with knowing this pandemic wasn't ending in 2 months.

One random day of scrolling through social media, I came across a Facebook post by my former Thesis Adviser, Khael. He shared that DOST Caraga was offering scholarship grants to over 75,000 Filipinos. I thought to myself, you know what? I might as well apply for it since I've got a lot of free time! The program gives you the chance to enroll in different courses offered by universities (some even Ivy league) all over the world + certificates are given after each completion. Isn't that such an amazing deal?!

DOST Caraga, in partnership with Coursera, offered this scholarship to Filipinos using the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) Learning Program. After 2 days, they accepted me into the program!

I wasted no time and started as soon as I was accepted. Each time I would finish a course, it would feel so satisfied seeing my name in each certificate provided by such prestigious universities.

Here's a list of all the courses from Coursera that I completed back in 2020. As you can see, it's quite random and some aren't even my forte, but they were all individually interesting to learn.

Long story short, in a span of 4 months and a whole lot of screen time, I was able to complete 17 courses! Some courses took longer than others since I had to retake some quizzes, and I wish I had more time, but overall, it was a wonderful learning opportunity. I later learned that grantees who were able to finish a minimum of 25 courses were given Certificates of Recognition by DOST Caraga. I was so freaking close, only 8 more and I would've made the cut! Takes me back to college where I was 0.01 away from graduating Cum Laude. I know what you're thinking, I could've done more... but no ragrets!

As of this writing, I have received e-mail reminders from American Red Cross to take a refresher class for re-certification for $20. They're giving me 10% discount, but I am debating on whether or not I still need it. You can check out the classes they offer here.

My principle when it comes to e-learning is to not spend on anything as much as I can. Knowing the internet, it has million of resources you can get your hands into. So for me, it's not really practical to spend on online courses UNLESS I really have to. Good thing American Red Cross was offering Psychological First Aid (Online Only)! I was quick on my feet to enroll and finish the class. This was a very timely one since I wanted to learn how to stay strong for myself and for everyone around me while going through life in a pandemic.

In 2021, I explored LinkedIn Learning. I hadn't known or personally seen anyone I know post about taking up these courses, so I wanted to see it for myself. It was introduced to me when I decided to start a 1 month free trial with LinkedIn Premium. I ended up completing 30 courses! They don't give out certificates, however, you can add it to your License & Certifications portion on your LinkedIn profile. I'll take it!

LinkedIn offers a wide variety of e-learning you can do to help you advance your skills in your career. You can access it here: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/

The 3 latest ones that I just finished: USA Archery, WordPress Courses, and Google Digital Garage.

Ever since I started this blog, WordPress has invited me to multiple webinars regarding the courses they offer. I ended up taking Intro to Blogging wince it interested me the most. I learned quite a lot actually and I've been applying it here on my recent posts. As for USA Archery, this was the only one that I was willing to pay for. When I went to Bradford Woods, we were required to take up (and pass) a Level 1 Instructor course that lasts for 3 years. Mine was about to expire this year, so I decided to take the refresher course and it took me a week to complete it. Definitely worth the $40! Lastly, I completed the only course available on Google Digital Garage that offers certification. It's a very interactive course with videos you can re-watch on YouTube and quizzes that you can take multiple times without a limit. There are about 156 courses that you can take anytime, so I recommend this to anyone who wants to further their digital marketing skills!

Now, you might be wondering, "Does she really retain all of that info?" And the answer to that is yes and no. Just with everything else you're learning, there are always things that stick to you more than others. You ready for a secret? When I do e-learning, I open a new document on Google Drive on one side, while the course/class I'm currently taking on the other. On each part, I transfer all the lessons onto the document and it's automatically saved on my files. It will take extra time for sure, but now that I did that, I can scan through each of them whenever I want to. Work smarter, not harder!

My point here is I want to encourage everyone to continue learning something new everyday! Focus on things that make you sane and grounded, whatever that means for you. Life is too short to live wasting a lot of it, so live it to the fullest you can and make sure to take care of the body that works hard to keep you alive every single second. Our brain is such a beautiful organ that we need to regularly feed it to keep it sharp and healthy. Remember, you are what you read and watch, as much as you are what you eat, so it better be good shit!

SM