The last day of class, in my last year of high school, the english teacher gave a bit of a lecture about life and the future that awaited us. He said, "you will read and learn so much more in life, than you did in school" and at least half of the class laughed at this statement. Most of us figured school was over. That by finishing high school we had mastered the skills that would carry us through life. Oh, how I wish I could go back and take away the chuckles and teenage eye rolls. If there is an afterlife, he has sat there chuckling at many of us, for thinking we were done with learning.
When I finished high school I couldn't figure out what to study, or why, and told my father, unless I knew that it would be a waste of his money and my time. Everyone told me to go study photography and art (and I can't draw to save my soul.) Inherently I knew that was an unlikely way to make my way in the world. I bounced around for a while, never having a "real job" then went to work doing sales and marketing for a land developer and home builder. A couple of years into that I realized that if I wanted to move beyond a low level position, I needed to get more education. I started to know, how little I knew. I was driving past a community college on my to and from the office, I stopped one morning, enrolled, and started classes (after the shock that books cost more than tuition.) That really started my learning. It started my love of reading, my love of connecting seemingly unconnected concepts and finding what they have in common and how they differ.
I continue to learn, and YOU are a part of that learning. One way to learn is to offer up and idea, and listen to the comments or replies of others. Your comments help me to develop my half-baked ideas, to see the strengths, and flaws in my thinking - to learn more about what I thought I knew. I learn by reading your blogs, glimpses into your lives, your minds, your life experiences.
As bloggers, blog readers and commenters, we are a social community, we are an entertaining community, and we are a learning community.
Thank you for being a part of my ongoing education.
Are you still learning?
If someone thinks learning ends after school is nuts. I learn something everyday.
ReplyDeleteWe all a little nuts sometimes.
DeleteLearning every day.
ReplyDeleteHow many master's degrees in SG and cats?
DeleteMy father was a teacher and he instilled in all of his children the need to keep learning and growing and reading. He's 87 and he's still learning.
ReplyDeleteGood example.
Early role models make a real difference.
Deletethey taught the wrong crap in high school and are STILL teaching the wrong crap! (insert the "kodachrome" video here) in my case, substitute geometry for household budgeting, trig for income taxes, etc. practical notions that will get you through life.
ReplyDeletewhen I graduated high school, I wanted to go to paralegal school (a new field at the time). no, I was told, you will go to the university and study what WE tell you because WE are paying for it. I barely graduated with a BA.
between 88-98, I went to community college and got an AAS degree in travel/tourism AND was accepted into 2 honor societies. then 9/11 happened and tanked that industry.
so I pivoted and worked as an admin assistant/office manager until being laid off 6/30/20.
I now learn through reading and doing and watching and listening.
As long as we are growing we are alive, when we stop, we start to deteriorate
DeleteLearning is indeed a lifelong process. "Formal education" is only a small part of it, isn't it.
ReplyDeleteYes, says the guy who completed 7 years of University.
DeleteEvery single day! I don't think I heard a teacher give that same advice but I distinctly remember my dad doing it. He told me when I was probably 19 or 20 that life was continuous journey of learning and that I should welcome every opportunity to learn more. So, to this day I continue taking classes and going to lectures. I love listening to discussions between people with different points of view. Real discussions.
ReplyDeleteI miss taking classes.
DeleteThrough blogging I've learnt an awful lot about the world and its people I would have never otherwise known, never mind meeting some.
ReplyDeleteAmazing people,
Delete