Semester at Sea’s thriving shipboard community embraces voyagers of all ages and stages of life– from undergraduates to professionals and retirees. But what do students in college and seniors in retirement have in common? Much more than we may think, according to former Semester at Sea faculty and Duke University educator, Dr. Ingrid Bianca Byerly.
In her TEDx talk, Dr. Byerly proposes the two most comparable stages of life are when you go to college and when you start your retirement. She explains that in both of these stages, you ask yourself “What am I going to do with my life?” As a college student, you are searching for this answer to find a job and earn a paycheck. As a retiree, this question is prompted by personal fulfillment and enrichment in our latter years.
So what’s the secret to discovering personal fulfillment and enrichment in what Dr. Byerly calls “the third act of life?” She finds the answer in a new fountain of youth: lifelong learning.
Dr. Byerly invites her audience to reframe their own perspective and to view aging as an opportunity to refine our pursuit of lifelong learning.
After all,” she says, “the third act of life’ may be the greatest adventure of all.”
Ready to set sail on your next adventure? Learn more about our Lifelong Learning Program and upcoming voyages!
