University of Me?

Self-directed possibilities?

For anyone who has talked to me recently or read my blog (Christy Tucker, I am honored to know that you read my last post!), you know I have struggled with whether to pursue more formal education. Three months ago, I thought it was the best approach to breaking into a new field, but now I'm not so sure. I think the key is to figure out what skills I am missing, and where I can best get them. I'm one of those nerdy souls who love formal education. I thrive in that environment, and I deeply enjoy being pushed by faculty and my fellow students. I am wondering, however, it is time that I  move past this comfort zone and design a learning program that suits me where I am now. I've already downloaded Moodle and Captivate to my desktop, and I've almost hit the "subscribe" button on lynda.com at least three times. This self-directed learning along with my daily obsession with my colleagues on Twitter and LinkedIn has informed me in a way that a university program could not. To make matters more complicated, many of the training and development professionals I respect the most (Cathy Moore, Cammy Bean, Trish Uhl and others) have found themselves in this field through circuitous routes. 
If I were able to design my own learning program, I know exactly how I would do it. I would make it structured and project-based, and it would be transparent. I would blog along the way, and keep my learning resources close at hand on Delicious. 
I'm not afraid of self-directed learning. My only fear is that I won't end up with the proper credential for my dream job at Kineo....