If you haven’t visited our sister site MyEducation.com in a while, you’re in for a treat… courtesy of a zombie! Watch the commercial below, and you’ll see Zoey the Zombie using education to fight her way out of a dead-end job and come alive. (Give her some “like” love on Facebook while you’re at it!) And now, you can do the same thing.

In MyEducation’s “Come Alive” contest, which runs from September 26 through January 15, you can create and upload your own video showing how education can help you come alive. We’re looking for creative, original, well-publicized videos to compete for the $2,500 grand prize. Yes, when it comes to going back to school to make your dreams come true, we admit to being a little “batty!”

Not feeling the vibe yet? Don’t be a deadbeat. Check out five reasons why you should enter the “Come Alive” contest today:

>> It will get you thinking – and that’s a good thing.
The great philosopher Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Of course, it can be so much easier to keep your head down and just go with the status quo. Why analyze your life when it takes so much energy just to live it? But if you never stop and think about what you want out of your career and your life, you’ll wake up one day wondering where the years went and what your purpose was. In short, you’ll be like one of those zombies in the commercial, taking up space in the workplace but not really contributing anything of value or experiencing joy in what you do.

>> It will make you take action.
Thinking doesn’t have to be a Debbie-Downer activity, though – especially if you commit to improving your situation. If you’ve realized that your career is not living up to your dreams and expectations, do something about it. Start by entering the contest and making a video that highlights what you want out of life. Then, use that creative energy as a springboard to get back to school, whether for a professional certificate, bachelor’s degree completion, or your very first steps toward an associate degree.

>> You can win money for school.
This is an obvious perk, but it bears mentioning. Not only can creating your “Come Alive” video help you jump-start your back-to-school endeavor, it can also give you some cash to make your education dreams a reality. Grants, loans, scholarships, tax credits, and tuition assistance are available to adult students, but your financial situation will be that much brighter with some prize money in hand – $2,500, to be precise. You can also win a $100 American Express gift card by competing in fun bi-monthly challenges.

>> You can get digital.
If you haven’t been back to school in a while, entering the “Come Alive” video contest can actually help you hone the skills you need to succeed in today’s classroom. Creating and uploading videos and driving traffic to your video channel can help you get with the digital age and become fluent in the social media and technologies that have become a critical component of 21^st century education. If you’re technologically challenged, enlist a friend to help you get up to speed.

>> It will be fun!
If nothing else, making a video for the contest will be fun – and if you’re stuck in a dead-end job, you could probably use some more fun in your life. But don’t make it into one more item for your to-do list. We want to inspire you to consider what you’re really passionate about, and to go after it. Have fun creating your video, and see where it takes you. Who knows? It could end up being a catalyst for you to switch gears, go back to school, and get started in a vibrant, new, fulfilling career.

-Robyn Tellefsen

Apparently, we’re nearing the end of Update Your Resume Month – as designated by Career Directors International – but you don’t have to rush around to meet a fall deadline. While back-to-school season is an ideal time to start fresh with a clean, crisp resume, it’s never too late to get this all-important document up to snuff. Review these tips (and more here) for your resume revamp.

>> Take note of where you’ve been.
When it comes to professional development, nothing is ever wasted. Maybe your boss made you go to a bunch of conferences, or you just decided to attend a few workshops and events on your own. Whether you loved ‘em or hated ‘em, they’re still worth listing on your resume. Include the title, date, and location of the event, the sponsoring organization, and the specific sessions you attended. If the training was relevant to your current career focus, list it closer to the top of your resume instead of the bottom.

>> Take note of what you’ve done.
Unless you’re stagnating at work (time for a job hunt?), chances are you’ve accomplished something in recent months. Special projects, cost-savings initiatives, leadership roles, and new business are all worthy of inclusion in your resume update. The more specific you can be about what you accomplished, the more relevant it will be. If you won an award or received a specific honor, list the exact name and date. If you’re drawing a blank, start saving all those “attaboy” emails in a separate folder to remind you what to include in your next resume update.

>> Think beyond work.
Yes, there is more to life than work… and your activities outside your job can actually benefit you on the job! Volunteer work marks you as a contributing member of society, and the leadership roles you take in nonprofits or industry groups can help you hone skills that are useful in your career. So don’t dismiss your work in the community watch program or at church as separate from your professional life. It’s all connected, and your involvement in outside activities reveals important aspects of your character and your commitment.

>> Consider what you want.
Now it’s time to think strategically. Spend some time evaluating your current career goals, and then peruse your resume to see if it reflects those objectives. Add a focus statement at the top of your resume to clarify who you are and what you do, and then review your resume to see if each item is relevant to your stated focus. If you have concerns about an item’s relevance, try using targeted keywords to rephrase the description so that it connects to the rest of the document.

>> Commit to ongoing updates.
Updating your resume feels overwhelming if you only pull it out when you’re looking for a job. Do yourself a favor: don’t let your resume gather dust while you plug away in your current position. Take a few minutes at the end of every month to review any new accomplishments and skills, and record them on your resume right then and there. If you think of your resume as a living document, always ready to be modified, it’s much more likely that it will be an accurate reflection of your true skills and abilities. And when the next job opportunity arises, you’ll be ready for it!

-Robyn Tellefsen

Site Offers its First Discount on College Tuition

Groupon keeps reminding me about two purchases I’ve made – two-for-one movie tickets from Fandango and a half-off deal for a photo album that I haven’t gotten around to creating. It’s also helped me take part in unique events, such as a barbecue lunch with the Neelys from Food Network and a symphony performance under the stars.

The other day, a Groupon deal showed me that the trendy site has the potential to remind some folks of their dream to finish their degree or go back to school to pursue a new career or get advanced education.

Groupon was offering more than 50 percent off a $2,232 graduate-level introductory teaching course at National Louis University in Chicago (the Groupon price was $950).

Surprise – a school actually lowered a price for students! In these days of bargain hunting and discount seeking, it seems that a college education is one of the few places where individuals seem resigned to pay higher and higher prices. I’ve seen friends invest in starting a master’s degree, only to find they can’t afford to continue the program or can’t juggle it with jobs and family (and refunds aren’t available for those courses).

The idea of purchasing something like education on Groupon may be a bit “out there,” and maybe the school only did it for publicity, but it is refreshing to see a school willing and able to lower its price on a course.

It got a lot of attention because it’s the first time the “deal is on” coupon site has offered a deal on tuition that counts for academic credit. The school says 18 individuals purchased the Groupon.

Dr. Nivine Megahed, president of National Louis University, said in a press release: “This deal will give participating students a chance to take one course and see if they are ready to make the time and financial commitment to follow through with the entire graduate program.”

Students need an undergraduate degree to be involved in the 10-week course, which counts toward three credit hours, of a 36-hour master’s degree from the school.

University officials told the AP that many of its students – the average age is 34 – are part of Groupon’s target demographics. So adult learners could be seeing more of this, via Groupon, or from other coupon sites. It could be a bonus for students already in pursuit of a certain degree, or it could be just the thing, even if you don’t get that deal, to make you reconsider college.

What do you think? Would you ever buy a Groupon for school?

-Lori Johnston

For many in our generation, 9/11/01 might be the single point of delineation, kind of how the Western world separates its history into the time before and after the birth of Jesus Christ. There was the world before the attacks, and the world we live in now.

Maybe it’s because I’m a New Yorker, who had close family members there that day (I’m thankful every day that all of them came home safely). Or the fact that for the past 10 years, at every gathering, party, conference, or get-together I’ve attended, the “9/11 conversation” inevitably seems to come up. Maybe it’s because this year, my 7-year-old son has been asking questions about the significance of that day. Or perhaps it’s the images I can never erase from my mind, like driving over the Verrazano bridge that evening once it was reopened, and just staring at the endless plumes of smoke. It was surreal.  I can only imagine how magnified those images are for people who were physically there in the city that day, and for those who lost someone.

If nothing else, that day definitely changed a lot of people’s perspectives, including my own. On this 10th anniversary, I’m trying to take comfort in the many stories of hope and rebirth, survival and strength. Like this amazing video from this morning’s Today Show that takes us inside today’s Ground Zero… It’s a true testament to the American spirit, and I’m not embarrassed to say, it brought me to tears:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

While the upcoming weekend will be full of remembrances, reunions, and reflections, I hope it also reignites that amazing passion and patriotism that swelled in the days immediately following 9/11.

For me personally, I hope it’ll remind me to be kinder, to not sweat the small stuff, and to stop putting off those dreams until next year. What will the 10th anniversary of 9/11 mean for you?

-Dawn Papandrea

Sorry, Penelope Trunk, We Disagree

Let me preface this post by saying that I think Penelope Trunk is pretty cool. She’s the founder of Brazen Careerist and two other startups, and her career advice is always fresh and fun – if not a bit irreverent. But in one of her recent posts, she basically says that graduate degrees in the humanities are useless. Here’s why she’s wrong:

>> Employers still look for graduate degrees when hiring.
Even if a graduate degree is not required for entry into a particular field, many employers still say that, given the choice between a candidate with a master’s degree and one without, they’ll hire the one with the degree. A recent New York Times article confirms this notion, calling the master’s degree a “sorting mechanism.” Plus, plenty of non-science professions (e.g., teaching, clergy, psychology) do require graduate degrees just to get in the door, and that trend will continue. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, careers that require first professional or master’s degrees are expected to grow by about 18 percent each; those that only require on-the-job training are expected to grow by 8 percent each.

>> Graduate degrees can get you promoted.
Trunk’s post seems to be directed at students who have never worked a day in the real world, but one doesn’t need to get a graduate degree in a vacuum. Many students go to grad school while they’re working – with the blessing (and even the tuition assistance) of their employer. When grad school is directly applicable to your field and can help you do better on the job, everyone benefits. Workers who are committed to self-improvement will always be in greater demand than those who are resting on the laurels of old accomplishments.

>> You can make more money with a graduate degree.
In a conversation about making a living with graduate education, it would be shortsighted not to mention the salary potential of advanced degrees. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2008, the median annual earnings of young adults with a master’s degree or higher was $55,000. That’s 20 percent more than bachelor’s degree holders earned ($46,000). And for those who say you have to take grad school debt into account, remember that there are lots of ways to do grad school on the cheap (fellowships, scholarships, teacher assistantships, etc.).

>> You do need a graduate degree in order to teach.
Teaching jobs may not be easy to come by these days – especially at the college level – but they are out there. And you can’t get in without an advanced degree. Maximize your employability by choosing your school and program wisely, and making good connections once you’re there. Given a choice between two grad schools, go with the one that has the best reputation in your field, one with a high employment rate for graduates of your program.

>> Education is never a waste of time.
Even if none of the above points were true, and grad school didn’t enhance career prospects, I’d still make the case that education is valuable for its own sake. Grad school gives you an opportunity to focus your attention and delve deeply into a topic, to do research and consider new possibilities, and to gain philosophical understanding. Not only are these kinds of activities helpful in your career, they make a difference in your life as a whole. And we are whole people, not career robots. Anything you can do to challenge yourself and broaden your perspective – including grad school – is inherently worthwhile.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to grad school. While there are certainly “wrong” reasons to go to grad school, there are plenty of “right” reasons, too. Be selective in your search, and you’ll be amazed at the doors that a graduate degree can open.

-Robyn Tellefsen