No matter what your career, one of the best things you can do (in my opinion anyway!) is to constantly be adding to your knowledge. You can take a class, you can read books and articles on a particular subject or you can get involved with a group or project that will expand your horizons. Continuing education does not have to mean spending money, although money spent on the right schooling isn’t going to be a waste.

When I first decided to embark on the path of running a virtual legal assistant business I knew there were some areas I needed to improve in. I self-taught myself a lot about blogging, learning how to manipulate my css a bit, learning how to work with html, even if only slightly, because learning things helped me save money in the long run and also added to my ability to serve my clients. I also had to learn, and continue to learn, about what it means to run a business – to track expenses and budget for marketing, to analyze cost and effectiveness when purchasing items for my office, and so much more. I feel like in the last two years I have been learning non-stop – and I love it!

Recently I decided that I was going to more formally continue my education. While I have an honours paralegal diploma, I never attended University and getting a degree is something I know will have immense value for me, even if only psychologically. It also adds value to my family, as getting a degree will hopefully help my children see that I value education for myself as well as for them-when the time comes in 10 or 12 years!

So as of this week, in addition to running my business and caring for my children and occasionally cooking dinner, I will be working on a Bachelor of Arts (Sociology) through Athabasca University. Wish me luck!