"There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning."
-Jiddu Krishnamurti
Before October comes to a closing end, I should post at least the smallest tidbit of information before my favorite month is over. Two years ago, I would have never been able to predict my future.
Here I am, sitting at my desk, looking out my window to a beautiful fall afternoon. In fifteen minutes my philosophy class will start, a teacher will get up to teach, and a group of students will come to class. A few students may arrive late, while some may not arrive at all. Some will sit and listen, while others will take notes. Various students will check their smart phones periodically to see what their friend's Halloween plans are, while others will just surf the web. The class is fifty minutes long, talking about a given reading assignment we were to do on our own. The level of comprehension is not based on intelligence, but rather how well we are informed.
To recap October, university has been going great. I've been staying involved in plenty of activities, but most of all I have noticed one thing stands out in particular...
I have learned more in the first half of one semester than any other semester in my life. Academically speaking, that is.
Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to take a survey called "StrengthsQuest." This online survey gives us a well informed, scientific idea about what our greatest qualities are, and a brief description of them. The welcome week activities held the week before class started included a guest speaker from the company, who described the science behind this process.
Usually when I am dealing with the topic of "strengths, qualities, etc." I am dealing with the topic of intercultural activities. Hence AFS.
My "Top 5"?:
Activator
Learner
Achiever
Command
Adaptability
The only one I was surprised about was "Learner."
Recently I have noticed a change in how I get things done. Schoolwork, class lectures; university life has been the start of a whole new routine. The people I talk to, the discussions I've had- things come to me in new ways that they didn't before. Is that due to guilt knowing the price we pay for university's tuition? Possibly. But whatever the drive is, it's there.
One of every four students in my class will not return next year. This is due to a variety of things such as tuition costs, transfers, or dropouts. The most surprising aspect of attending university has been simply this: people just don't care. They flat out, do not care about going to class, doing well, or the greatest of all, learning. If you handed them a diploma with a big 4.0 they would take it and walk away.
So what does that mean, 4.0? Well, I suppose that depends on the teacher you may ask. To most college students, it's the ticket to the good life. A good job. But what good is that new job if you can't tell figure out what to do, how, and why?
Studying is like a competition. The highest test scores win. Because to reality's "judgement day," you either sink, or swim. If someone handed you a trophy, let's say for karate, and they said, "Ccongratulations! You qualified for Nationals!" and you had never once taken karate, chances are you will get shot down in that national karate competition. It's like anything else in life.
Today is Halloween. Today people wore costumes. Today people painted their faces. Today people came to class. Today people skipped class. Today people came to class in costumes. Today people came to class with their face painted. Today people brought breakfast to class. Today people slept through class. Today people slept through class, while in class. Today is just yet another day of the week that ends in "y".
Why?
Because that is how people work. Some put forth an effort and some don't. Such is life.
Here's a short story.
This past weekend I was required to make a religious visit for my World Religions class. I went to the Jewish service next door to campus. As I sat in the back of the synagogue and observed the bar mitzvah, an older man passed me and asked me if I would like (what I do not know the official name of, but appear to be their song book) a book.
"It's ok," I replied, "I'm not actually Jewish, I'm just here for a clas."
"That's ok," he replied, "you can still have a book, I'll go get you a book."
He disappeared for a moment, bringing me back a book.
"Thanks," I replied.
I thought it was weird that he handed me the book with the backside up. So before opening the book, I switch sides to the front. But the front was blank. "That's odd," I though. I flipped the book back over once again.
There was writing on this side, but in Hebrew.
I turned it 180 degrees.
Well, that didn't work because now the tiny words in English were upside-down.
Confused, I switched the book back over to the front, blank page, and opened the book. The first page was somewhere in the high hundreds. I started to flip through the pages, and then it occurred to me:
The book was written backwards.
The fact that the book was indeed written backwards was one surprise, but my biggest shock was that I now realized why the older man insisted on giving me the book. He didn't expect me to understand the words. He didn't expect me to read Hebrew. He didn't expect me to follow him and ask him questions.
He simply saw the window, although a small window, to teach me something, and did exactly that.
Where would we be, if no one cared to teach others? Where would we be, if no one wanted to learn?
"You cannot open a book without learning something." -Confucious
Happy Fall, Ya'll.
-mb
