Personal Enrichment

At Rutgers, we truly believe in lifelong learning, which is why we offer programs and courses for individuals throughout their lifespan. After reaching 50, you may want to explore interests and topics you didn’t have the opportunity for earlier in your life. We invite you to participate in our programs and expand your interests, make new connections, and perhaps even find a second career!

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Rutgers University (OLLI-RU) is for individual sover 50 who are looking for an opportunity to expand their horizons, learn in an engaging environment, and meet new friends. OLLI-RU offers noncredit education that is stimulating, friendly, and informal - there are no tests and no grades! You will be part of a learning community that is full of diversity, insight, wisdom, intellectual and cultural stimulation, and friendship.

Janis Ian, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and author, sat down with David Bianculli (TV Critic, Fresh Air) for a special interview an performance ahead of the 2017 Rutgers Writers' Conference. 

Presented by the Rutgers–New Brunswick Office of Summer and Winter Sessions, a unit of the Rutgers Division of Continuing Studies.

Learn more about the Rutgers–New Brunswick Writers' Conference at ruwriterscon.rutgers.edu

Thirty years ago, with little idea of what career path to choose, Mike Harris felt his life resembled a scene from the movie, The Graduate.

“I was Dustin Hoffman floating in the pool,” he said, referring to the iconic scene that is so relatable to many recent college graduates. After graduating from Kenyon College as a religion major, Harris considered applying to law school but only because he had no clear idea of what he wanted to do. He was working in the insurance industry, but was miserable there.  “I was thinking every day ‘if I stay in this job for too much longer, I’m going to die,” he recalls.

Of the 145 students in Rutgers’ summer scholar classes in New Brunswick, the majority are high school juniors and seniors. Ennyn Chiu, along with her 11-year-old sister Enna, are both enrolled in the same class, making them youthful standouts among the teenagers in the room.

Read the Rutgers Today article here. 

As a pharmaceutical industry leadership development professional, Bejoy Philip draws insights from a novel source – his alter ego, the rap artist named Wize.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, Philip lived the hip-hop dream, performing on weekends as Wize and producing five albums from 2006 to 2011. By day, he was a project manager and process engineer in the banking industry, but he found his avocation as a musician “almost was an alter ego.”

Philip lived in two worlds – until a move into leadership development enabled him to combine his two passions: inspiring others with words and music, and developing people and organizations in the business world.

Read more at leadershipcoach.rutgers.edu

Unearthing a Buried Treasure, Part II: Student’s Vision for Trail Renovation Enabled by Fellow Students

The Arbor Trail is located behind the University Inn and Conference Center on the Douglass Campus. Rutgers purchased the property in 1965. The Inn is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and the trail will have its grand re-opening on Rutgers Day 2015 on April 25, as part of the Inn’s anniversary celebration. Student volunteers will give tours of the trail and there will be giveaways of wildflower seed mix.

So you just installed a paver patio.  Stand back and admire your work.  It probably looks pretty decent right now.

But wait a few months. Or a year.  Let one good winter pass.  Now how does it look?

What Can Go Wrong When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing

“A lot of pavers look good when they first go in,” said Alex Burke, instructor in Rutgers’ Concrete Pavers class.  But when an installer doesn’t really know what he is doing, the ill effects will show within a year.  

“After you’ve gone through the winter and had time for settling, that’s when you start to see problems,” explained Burke.  “It might be frost heaving, settling or problems caused by difficult site conditions, like clay soil.”