LESSON 10–The Value of an Education
Knowledge will be one of your greatest possessions. Seek to gain knowledge in all that you do. Knowledge is, after all, power. Knowledge is wisdom. So, in life, learn all you can from books and schooling; experience what is valuable to your personal development; and make time to reflect on what you have learned and experienced. Learn, experience, reflect—these should be a part of your life from your first breath to your last.
From the moment you were born—and, perhaps, even before you were born—you began acquiring knowledge. As an infant the world was new to you. The amount of learning that occurs in the first years of life is astonishing. But this learning only begins to prepare you for the knowledge you will gain later in life. Learning your ABCs only prepares you to read. The ability to read—and the desire to read—is a most priceless part of your education. When I was a child, there was a public service campaign on television promoting that “reading is fundamental.” This statement is every bit as true today. Read as much and as often as you can.
Television and the movies have largely affected the amount of reading we do as a society. We are a culture that demands immediate gratification and to be entertained. Why take weeks to read a book, when Hollywood can sum it up in less than two hours? Granted, there is value in some movies and some television, and it is good relax and be entertained, but never neglect the printed word. Few have ever said that the movie was better than the book. Reading exercises your brain and stimulates your imagination. Through books you can travel to places that life might never take you. It opens worlds much different than your own. It opens you to the minds of other people and shares with you their thoughts and experiences.
Read as much as you can. Read a variety of books. Read friction, as well as nonfiction. Read poetry. Read the classics, as well as the modern best-sellers. Read history and science. Read philosophy. Read fantasy and reality. Read textbooks, as well as popular magazines. Read as much as you can get your hands on. Learn!
Books can go with you everywhere, but, more importantly, what you read in those books can be carried with you forever. Make use of the public library system. React to libraries and bookstores like a child reacts in a candy store. Be excited by all the thrilling “treats” that sit on the shelves ready to be enjoyed. Go to the library often. Acquire a personal library, as well. Enjoy reading and make reading a habit.
Beyond reading, you will have to go to school. I will do my part to make sure you have good teachers, and I will help you with your studies. In return, do your best. Take your schooling seriously and never undervalue your education. Demand that your teachers challenge you and never take the easy route. There will be numerous courses in school that you will believe to be useless—some, perhaps, will be to some degree—bear with these and seek to gain something out of them. Most courses, however, will be beneficial. Perhaps, now they will seem of little value, but there is always some value in knowledge. Therefore, give your full effort in doing well.
As a college professor, I am frustrated by the attitudes of some students, who want to be taught only that information which is going to be on the test. It is unfortunate that many young people are moved through the grade-levels being taught to the standardized tests. These students are being robbed of an understanding of the value of knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Somewhere in their education, they were cheated.
Teachers should create in their students an insatiable appetite for knowledge—a hunger pang in their brain that can never be satisfied. Instead, they make education, on one hand, boring or, on the other hand, empty entertainment. What an awful shame. Demand more of your teachers. Ask questions. Have an inquiring mind. In so doing, you will—hopefully—reawaken their enthusiasm for teaching, as well. A teacher worth his or her salt will want to be challenged and will enjoy teaching.
Respect your teachers. I can’t say that I always did this—particularly substitutes—and this I regret. I was fortunate that from kindergarten to graduation I was (overall) blessed with outstanding teachers, who have had a profound effect on my life. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to teachers like Mr. Smith, Mrs. Moore, Ms. Romano, Mrs. Mooreland, and so many more, who taught me English, Literature, History, Science, Math, Social Studies, Art, Music, Drama, Physical Education, and a host of other topics. Value your teachers and respect them by behaving in class, being attentive, and expecting much from them.
Beyond books and the classroom, experience life. Enjoy the theater. Enjoy music and art. Travel. See the world, not only though books, but also by experience. Explore. Hike, climb, bike, or kayak—any mode of travel. See the world up close.
Learn about other cultures. Go to museums, restaurants, and befriend people of all races, religions, and ethnic origins. Take pleasure in the company of people. Learn about them. Enjoy diversity. Experience the wealth of differences you find in the world.
There is so much out there beyond your back door. Beyond the community in which you live. Experience it. See it. Make it a part of your education.
Try many things—that is, try those things which are of value. I am not suggesting that you experiment with drugs and sex and the like—absolutely not. Don’t put your life in danger. Rather try things that make you a better person. Explore your talents. Try art. Try music. Try acting. Try different sports.
Don’t limit yourself. Experience different tastes—tastes in music, art, literature. Go to musicals and enjoy stage acting. See art up close. Learn the difference between Monet and Manet; Remington and Rembrandt; impressionism and cubism. Enjoy that in one hand the violin can be a melodic concerto and in another the hee haw of “Cotton-eyed Joe.” See the many sides of Broadway—be it Les Misérables or Spamelot. Enjoy the good in all music—classical, jazz, big band, rock, disco, country, bluegrass, …, hip-hop, and bebop. Some things you will like. Other things you will not. It doesn’t matter. Just experience them.
As you learn and experience, take time to reflect. Take quite time to yourself and consider all that you are learning and experiencing. How does it all fit together? Where does it all fit with your Purpose? “What is the meaning of life?” is, perhaps, an unanswerable question—at least currently in your existence, but it is worth pondering. Take a break now and then and ask yourself the deeper questions of life. Search for answers. Philosophize. Think. Look deep into the blue sky or the stars of heaven on a clear night and dare to ask yourself “Why?” Ask, and be still. Listen for the answer. Reflect.
Pray. Ask God for guidance. Meditate. Let God answer in his time. Don’t try to force the answers you want to hear. Listen.
Seek places where you can be alone in your thoughts. Such places can be found deep in the woods, high on a mountain top, along the banks of a stream, paddling alone on a quite lake or stream, or sitting on a rock in the desert. Such places can even be found in the city—I often found Central Park a refuge in New York City, but one can also escape by closing his/her eyes and relaxing to the rocking of a subway car. You can find solitude wherever you seek it. The key is to take time to reflect on all that you are experiencing. Don’t get overwhelmed by the fast pace of life. As it is said, “take time to smell the roses”—reflect!!
Never stop learning. Begin with a solid formal education, but never stop learning. Value education. When graduation day comes, don’t stop there. Keep your hunger for knowledge alive.
Whether you elect to work a trade, be an artisan, or become a professional, go to and graduate from college. Seek a liberal education. While many schools and programs are getting increasingly specialized, there has been an erosion of the liberal education. It seems that universities offer as few courses in the arts and humanities as are necessary and fill students’ schedules with career-specific courses. Don’t fall into this trap. Art/music appreciation, literature, cultural studies, language, etc. should be as valued as math and the sciences, and vice versa. Become a truly educated person—civilized as the great seventeenth century enlightened Scots would have put it. As such, you will find yourself at ease in most any circumstances.
Don’t seek out the easiest classes and the easiest professors. Demand to be challenged. While grades are important—and you should strive for all A’s—it is more important that you take something from the class with you. While you will forget much of the details of what you learn in class, it will, nevertheless, become a part of you, subtly showing itself in the man you are becoming. Remember, you are a product of all your experiences. Orison Swett Marden wrote that “you enjoy the sum of all the past every moment of your life” (He Can Who Thinks He Can, p. 204). This is true. History, knowledge, and experience have a cumulative effect. The more you learn from these, the more you will contribute to the welfare of others—and yourself.
Education is a privilege, not a right. Respect it. Value it. Obtain it. Don’t miss any opportunity to become better educated. Seize every occasion while you are in school and continue to acquire knowledge throughout your life. Share your knowledge. Teach, if not as your profession, in your profession. Mentor. Seek guidance from others. Seek the wisdom of people wiser than yourself. Never consider your education complete. Be like a sponge, absorbing information wherever you can. Learn, experience, and reflect.
Carpe momento!!
© W. Jeffrey Armstrong