Imagine this. A child wakes up wearing the same clothes she had on the day before and the day before that. Actually, it is the only set of clothing she owns. They are tattered and worn – dirty and smelly. Her bed is nothing more than a bunch of plastic bags held together with discarded twine. By the way, this little girl lives in India on the side of the road. Her stomach growls, as it is empty. She had only one meal yesterday. She knows she can get a meal today – a free meal, but only if she walks the great distance – over two miles – to school and spends the mandatory five hours in school – will she’ll be fed. She is hungry and needs food. Her other option is to beg for food, or work the street – selling this or that. She decides to go to school, but not because she yearns to be fed knowledge or to learn a new skill. Instead she goes to be fed food – in order to survive. Let’s face it; doesn’t every child deserve to go to school to get a decent education?
I love to learn. Ever since I was little I loved going to school. In fact, I remember “playing school” with my friends even before I was old enough to go to school. I don’t think it was the school part, or even the being with my friends’ part, but rather it was the realization that I could get better at something. Whether it was learning to read, taking part in a play or understanding the rules of a team sport, I could develop a part of me that didn’t exist before. To me that is exciting.
Everybody knows that learning takes place in the classrooms all over the world on any given day. Whether it’s a math problem, a grammar rule, a science experiment or a historical debate, students dedicate their young lives to explore new ideas and understand complex concepts. For many people and cultures, learning in school like this makes sense. In fact, we expect students to thrive from it; after all, it’s their job. For me though, learning shouldn’t be confined to the school setting, and it shouldn’t stop once someone is finished with their traditional schooling.
In other words, I think some people think that learning is just for students – in school. The reality is that learning takes place all the time keeping life fresh. As adults, people should continue to learn. It is easy to get caught up into the daily routine of work, carpooling the kids, making dinner, cleaning the house – get up and do it all over again. But if you are learning something new, you are exposed to new people, experiences, ideas, and opportunities. This makes life fun and fresh. Recently, I was given the opportunity to go to India. Going to India was a out of the box learning experience for me. According to experts, there are 268 million illiterate people in India, unable to read, write or make a reasoned decision, which makes up almost a third of the world’s total number of illiterates. And women receive on average only 1.8 years of schooling in India. I didn’t realize that not all people are given the opportunity to go to school with the thought of learning. That is, learning in the traditional sense of the word.
“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as long as we live,” claimed Mortimer Adler, the American philosopher and author. As I learn new ways of teaching, new ways of using technology, and the art of photography I am grateful that I am able to continue to learn. Learning is a lifelong pursuit. I can only imagine what kind of a life I would have led had I not had the chance to get a fantastic education. With my educational experience, I have had boundless opportunities made available to me. I have been able to travel the world and make an impact other’s lives. Besides that, I have been lucky enough to have the best job in the world – I am a teacher.
