I’ve had an interesting time and relationship with school. I love the atmosphere. I love the people. I love the concept, but I never seem to have enough time to do everything I need. I would try an sit in the library after finally finding the one book that felt right and it would be time to go to the next class. I would also try to speed through my lessons and to get a chance to read. I would only read a couple pages and then I would have to leave it behind.
Now that I’m older, I find a sea of books ahead of me. I am so excited to crack them open and figure out what secrets they hold. I find myself buying books on top of books because they all seem so great. I am curious and just want to plow through them, one page at a time. Literally, I have picked up three books from this trip alone. Winter break will be eventful to say the least.
That brings me up to a comment with a good friend the other day.
“I can’t wait to be done being a student so I can be a student”
This is not a slight at the work the schools do or even the overall critique of the education system, but overall just a viewpoint I’ve heard reiterated multiple times over the past year from other students.
“I can’t wait to be done being a student so I can be a student”
My Uncle has reminded me often what this is called. He told me to become autodidactic.
Initially, I thought graduate school was going to be more of this. I expected graduate work to be telling us to pick a topic, they’d help is find books related to it, and then the professor rounds out the rougher parts of our understanding. Now, I find myself praying for breaks because I don’t have the spare time to really digest the information I am taking in. I eventually realized a couple things.
- School is a system. While degrees are necessary in the current functioning of society, earning a degree does not mean you understand the subject any better than someone off the streets. All it states is that you are proficient at the time of completion in the subject.
- Teachers are like the textbooks they teach from. They do not necessarily give you anything additional, it just depends on your interpretation.
- School is like a Bank. You get out what you put in. If you want a big payout, you have to invest a lot in a way that will give you a large return.
So, another thing on my list is to become a continual learner. Whether I stay in school and go for my doctorates or not. I want to spur motivation in myself to understand the world to a deeper degree and continue to progress no matter the situation. I want to become autodidactic. I was to become a self learner and continually grow.
Are you autodidactic? How do you feel you learn best? What’s you best method to understanding and growth? Has school helped you develop motivation? Leave comments, questions, stories, opinions, and thoughts in the comment section below.