Balancing Family Care and Career Growth: How Can I Continue My Education from Home?

Hello, I am Madah. I have completed my MBA with dual majors in Marketing and HR from a reputed university in Karachi. Actually, my father is physically disabled, and my mother is suffering from cancer. I have to stay at home and look after them, which is why I cannot do a job. I am really keen on continuing my education further, and my parents also support this idea. I have been exploring some distance learning programs and online certifications that could benefit me in the future, but I am still uncertain.

Seeking Advice on Further Education

I really need some advice to help me decide on a certification or degree to pursue. I have a strong desire to study further, especially in the field of marketing, which has always been my passion.

Considering Project Management Certification

I was considering getting certified in project management, but that requires a certain number of hours as a Project Manager, which I currently lack.

Please, please help me in getting things in order. I don't want to be idle at home; I want to make the most of this time. I am open to all kinds of advice and looking forward to some wise words.

Thank you :)

While empathizing with your situation, there's one aspect in your thought/decision-making process that's missing. Since you can't do a job now or later, what do you propose doing after the 'continuing my education further' stage? There definitely would come a time when you need to put the education to good use, and you can't surely keep doing degrees/PhDs all through your life—right?

Since you already have an MBA—which is quite commendable, given your situation—why not register on some freelancer websites where you can begin to earn sitting at home? If you do some research over the Internet, I am sure you would figure out some areas where your skills/expertise/knowledge can be put to good use. Such an effort can also hone your existing skills.

Further education can follow as a part of this effort, rather than as a stand-alone effort. Hope you get the point.

All the best.

Regards, TS

I really appreciate your kind responses. Adding to the above detail, I have been doing freelance writing since my O-levels, ranging from creative writing to insights on social issues. Along with that, I, along with a friend, run a small business designing apparel. It's small, but I manage to do it from home. I take orders online, get them done by my workers, and deliver them. However, now I want to do more. I guess I am being proactive, but I feel that this is reaching the point of saturation. I just supervise my business, which isn't very time-consuming, and I have three people helping me to run it. I want to study more :(

Regards!