Season of Learning
Well the summer's officially over. Tomorrow the last of America's students go back to school, mine included. Its been a great summer but there is always something uplifting about this time of year for me. Maybe its that I somehow live vicariously through my kids and can remember the butterflies in my stomach at the thought of walking through those school doors for another year of adventure. Although to them, the butterflies are more about how good they'll look and if the chics will dig em (which is probably what I was thinking at their age). I might be dating myself by the very comment I just made. Haha. Hey, what can I say, I've been cool, hot, fresh, and ill, and at various times of my life, those were proud monikers.
With the new school year, I as a parent know that past the social dynamics of high school and middle school, my sons are in for a year of learning and that to me is really cool.
I've been a lifelong learner as an adult. As a high school student, I was more busy worrying about my social dynamics than grades which lead to less than stellar grades. Some of my friends weren't like me, they were true braniacs which I thought was soooo awesome. A few of them had support structures at home I didn't have the luxury of having like parents who had been to college and understood the processes of getting into it. Sadly I didn't have that luxury as no one in my family had ever been to college and to be honest, graduating high school was quite a big deal as not all of them had accomplished that to include both my parents. Of course that is no excuse. I will say not all of them had ideal support structures either but ended up going to places like Yale.
So after graduation, I stood around kicking rocks in the parking lot and envied my friends, wished I were like them, and accepted they would go off to cool colleges while I did, well heck I don't even remember my master plan, but I'm sure it made sense if only in my mind.
Having said that, as I joined the Army I began to take advantage of the tuition assistance offered by the service and the fact many schools sent professors out to the bases so military folks could take classes closer to home. Little by little, class by class, I'm really proud to say I earned my Associates degree which was a pipe dream in high school. Then I wanted to learn more so I continued with school and earned my Bachelors. I was the first kid in my entire family to earn a college degree. Ultimately I was hooked with this whole "learning" thing and continued to my Masters. While I'm incredibly proud of those accomplishments I don't share them with you to brag. I share them with you because I know so many friends who like me, didn't follow the traditional route after high school. I also know, many of them gave up on their dreams of an education as "life" got in the way as it will almost certainly do, almost 100% of the time.
As this season of learning begins for your kids, I urge you to reconsider your education goals. Maybe you don't even "need" an education for success in whatever you do. Maybe you're well-off and the CEO. Having said that, I bet most of you reading this who haven't attained your educational goals still feel a void there if you're really honest with yourself.
One of my mentors is a motivational and business speaker named Zig Ziglar. He is an icon in the world of motivation. He's 85 years old this year and still speaks regularly and passionately about his love of learning. He uses the phrase "the more you learn about "anything", the better equipped you are to handle "everything". Friends, we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are. Whether you have a PhD or are still working on your GED, learning is a part of our lives and one of the neatest things about being human. You can make excuses about being busy but at the end of the day, we're all busy. There is never a "good" time to start back in school. You just have to do it. Plan to be successful. Throw that Tuesday and Thursday class on the calendar at home and then figure out how to make it happen. You'll find once you commit to it, ways will become available you never considered. Don't let your kids be the only ones to gain the great gift of learning this fall. Imagine the roll-model you will be to them as an adult learner.
You can do it, I believe in you. You just have to believe in yourself.
With the new school year, I as a parent know that past the social dynamics of high school and middle school, my sons are in for a year of learning and that to me is really cool.
I've been a lifelong learner as an adult. As a high school student, I was more busy worrying about my social dynamics than grades which lead to less than stellar grades. Some of my friends weren't like me, they were true braniacs which I thought was soooo awesome. A few of them had support structures at home I didn't have the luxury of having like parents who had been to college and understood the processes of getting into it. Sadly I didn't have that luxury as no one in my family had ever been to college and to be honest, graduating high school was quite a big deal as not all of them had accomplished that to include both my parents. Of course that is no excuse. I will say not all of them had ideal support structures either but ended up going to places like Yale.
So after graduation, I stood around kicking rocks in the parking lot and envied my friends, wished I were like them, and accepted they would go off to cool colleges while I did, well heck I don't even remember my master plan, but I'm sure it made sense if only in my mind.
Having said that, as I joined the Army I began to take advantage of the tuition assistance offered by the service and the fact many schools sent professors out to the bases so military folks could take classes closer to home. Little by little, class by class, I'm really proud to say I earned my Associates degree which was a pipe dream in high school. Then I wanted to learn more so I continued with school and earned my Bachelors. I was the first kid in my entire family to earn a college degree. Ultimately I was hooked with this whole "learning" thing and continued to my Masters. While I'm incredibly proud of those accomplishments I don't share them with you to brag. I share them with you because I know so many friends who like me, didn't follow the traditional route after high school. I also know, many of them gave up on their dreams of an education as "life" got in the way as it will almost certainly do, almost 100% of the time.
As this season of learning begins for your kids, I urge you to reconsider your education goals. Maybe you don't even "need" an education for success in whatever you do. Maybe you're well-off and the CEO. Having said that, I bet most of you reading this who haven't attained your educational goals still feel a void there if you're really honest with yourself.
One of my mentors is a motivational and business speaker named Zig Ziglar. He is an icon in the world of motivation. He's 85 years old this year and still speaks regularly and passionately about his love of learning. He uses the phrase "the more you learn about "anything", the better equipped you are to handle "everything". Friends, we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are. Whether you have a PhD or are still working on your GED, learning is a part of our lives and one of the neatest things about being human. You can make excuses about being busy but at the end of the day, we're all busy. There is never a "good" time to start back in school. You just have to do it. Plan to be successful. Throw that Tuesday and Thursday class on the calendar at home and then figure out how to make it happen. You'll find once you commit to it, ways will become available you never considered. Don't let your kids be the only ones to gain the great gift of learning this fall. Imagine the roll-model you will be to them as an adult learner.
You can do it, I believe in you. You just have to believe in yourself.
I agree 100%, I am a big advocate of education, an dhave pushed my kids because of it....I love the quote from Zig! I agree that we are role models for our kids thats why i continued through night school... a few degrees later and my daughter has graduated college and i have two there now! it works people :D
ReplyDeleteGet out of my head, Jose!!! This post is the conversation I have with myself everyday. I am repaying student loans right now so I can get back on track with school. Thanks again & keep writing!
ReplyDelete