We can all remember the stress of burning the midnight oil because we want to be in the classroom early in the morning to take tests, the struggle to finance your college education because we want to collect a degree, the cramming of our heads full of facts and figures right from kindergarten to cap and gown, all in a bid to obtain some qualifications. But, is this what it means to be educated?
I have been thinking about this lately and pondering some questions that make me think we must have been viewing the report card all wrong. Let me bring up these questions for us to rub minds over them together to decide who is truly educated.
Between the Further Maths wizard and the one with Life Math who is truly educated?
Just picture two people you know; the first is a mathematical guru, he can easily solve gnarly differential equations, break down calculus without bricking an eye, and can speak in math. The other one barely knows beyond plus and minus, and simple multiplication and division, but he understands how money works, how to turn ideas into profitable money making ventures. Who among the two is truly educated? Is it the one who masters the theory of math or the one who masters the art of human survival?
You see, we spent much time in school learning about pythagorean theory and hypotenuses, but failed to learn about human psychology and emotional intelligence of creating a stable life after school. For most of us, the life maths of balancing relationship, finance, health and personal struggles is more challenging than classroom exercise. We are experts in finding the value of x in the equation (y × z = x, what is x?), but failure in balancing finance and other aspects of human life.
The second is between the one with excellent school grades with zero bank balance and the one without a college degree but with a full bank balance.
Many of us can relate to this one. While in school, we were told that having good grades leads to getting good jobs which can give us financial stability in life. But life after school is a different ball game. Today, we see a lot of grads with flawless and excellent school certificates living with zero check balances who are barely able to fend for themselves.
On the other hand, we have those who are not college grads, probably school dropouts, who with grits and guts and street smart pulled it out in life with a heavy bank balance.
Between the two, who is more educated in the picture, is it the one who is a master of theories or the one who skipped the theories to master the practical realities of money? This does not undermine the importance of academic qualifications but to contradict the belief that having good grades means having a good life.
Then I also looked at the case between a university graduate who keeps looking for a job for many years without success and the one who learns a craft and works for himself.
This one gets straight to the heart. Our old way of thinking gives too much importance to having a college degree than learning hand work. For some people, having a degree feels like having a golden ticket that guarantees them a place in the labor market, and therefore goes about carrying certificates everywhere looking for jobs that don't exist.
The one who learns a craft may not have a degree, but they have skills that enable them to set up a business after learning and take off from there as their own boss in their enterprises. They become self employed and create job opportunities for even grads.
Who then has the best education in the above case? The ones with degrees are sitting there waiting to be hired, while the others are constructing their own chair at the table of greatness, generating value and financial freedom.
The true education is not in paper and pen, it's in what we do with whatever we were taught. If what was taught has no practical application in real life, it's not education. Real education is about the skills of handling real world problems, knowing how to create opportunities where none exist, and managing growth resources.
The image used is AI generated.
Posted Using INLEO
Good writing and sharing!
Thank you for reading