I don't consider myself to be an extremely educated person, but I do recognize that I have been blessed with the advantage that many people throughout history, and even in our world and country today have not had . . . a college degree. Of course a college degree and an education cannot be just given out randomly to anyone. It requires work and sacrifice on the part of the recipient, no matter who they are. That being said, I was born into a family that values education, and though my parents never mandated or forced any of their children to attend college, they did make it clear that we were expected to work hard, study, and do our best throughout our school careers, and they did all they could do to support us in our decisions to further our education. I was able to earn a scholarship to pay the tuition for my first year of college, and I worked part time to pay my rent and other expenses. After my scholarship ran out, my parents were kind enough, and able at that time to continue paying my tuition until I married. At that point I was able to cash in a savings bond that they had purchased for me many years earlier to pay my final year of tuition. I'm sure there are many other things that my parents could have done with that tuition money, and I'm very grateful for their sacrifices in my behalf.
Of course earning a degree, whether it be high school, college, or graduate school, should never be considered the end of one's education. Education doesn't only come from completing classes and earning a degree, but taking advantage of opportunities to learn through reading, interacting and listening to others around us who have experiences and knowledge that we do not. Today most of us have a wealth of knowledge available to us through the internet, computers, and even our phones. Even our day to day experiences at work, travel through hobbies and other activities contribute to our on-going education.
Education is also learning from our mistakes, and I'll be the first to admit that I've made plenty of mistakes through the years. Hopefully I have learned something from at least some of my mistakes, and hopefully I will never stop learning!
My much younger self with my Dear Husband on my University graduation day, April 1984
"And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith."
No comments:
Post a Comment