A long, long time ago, I went to school like everyone.
There was a range of thoughts about it, mostly like:
- A man is born wise and then goes to a school.
- A school is basically a temporary prison.
- School’s like a loo – you go, cause you must.
- Skool teeshes end aedukatez.
A’right, on the other hand, I actually sort of enjoyed learning how this world works. But that’s for some other time.
In my time it was 6 years of elementary, 3 years of middle and 3 years of high school.
Just before the finals, there was this conversation between one dude and the professor:
Prof.: So now comes the longest summer holiday in your life! What will you be doing all that time?
A voice from the class: Relaxing.
Prof.: After what?
Dude: After twelve years of slavery!
Years are passing, I’ve been reflecting on some things, something’s changed, others did not. Complaining about a school or the education system doesn’t pass even 10 years after graduating. There’s just a little less of it when it no longer applies to you. There was one topic that kept returning relentlessly, worse than a thrown boomerang:
WHAT IS THAT FOR?!
Why do I need reproduction of a pine tree?!
Why do I need an attributive?!
Why do I need a gravity formula?!
Why do I need formulas of reduced multiplication?!
Why do I need the date of the battle of Salamis?!
I still don’t know plenty of stuff. But I sense that this question is a key.
It can get you while studying anything, no matter how old you are and what are the circumstances.
What is a calligraphy course for?!
What is a philosophy doctorate for?!
What is training of crawl swimming for?!
What is emotion management course for?!
What is a medical materials conference for?!
I want to know. I deeply believe that nothing is ever done ‘for nothing’. There is always some purpose.
It can be obvious or obscure, silly or noble, insipid or mature, obsolete or futuristic, and so on, and so forth. But there is one. Until I realize it, I might get discouraged and even disgusted with studies. I don’t want to be the lazy one, who only asks ‘what is that for?!’, but search for the answer. This leads to passion of learning… anything! Simply: to reasonable knowledge.
And the knowledge
is
awesome.
How do I know? How can I be so sure?
But that is, as Kipling would say, another story.