As Labor Day weekend rolls around, I still get the feeling of a new beginning. This will be going on my second year of not having a first day of school and it' still a strange feeling. I haven’t had the gratification of having fresh notebooks and pens, or of cracking open a new textbook. A recurring thought I have around this time of year is how strange it is that I don't have a syllabus and I don't have a class schedule and I don't have professors telling me what is important to learn. But the importance of learning it has not gotten any less vital. I have just had to learn to become my own professor.
According to the Merriam- Webster Dictionary website, the verb learn is defined as to gain knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, being taught, or experiencing something. This is a necessary skill to reinforce once you leave school behind. You have to decide what I think is worth learning and what you would like to set time aside to do. Once college is over, you have to decide what knowledge you would like to gain. It is critical that you study, practice, and teach yourself something new, because no one else will make you. The ability to continue to learn and to do it in your own way is what sets you aside from people who just go through the motions and people who actually live he their lives to the fullest.
I like to describe myself as a lifelong learner. I am somebody who constantly learns and likes to challenge myself to new obstacles. Once you leave the confines of a brick-and-mortar college, you really don't have much direction other than the direction you set yourself in. There is no advisor telling you what you need to graduate and there is no real schedule for you to follow except for the schedule that you make for yourself.
If school was never your "thing", you may not have gone to college and that's perfectly fine. School is not for everyone and that is where learning in your own way takes a whole new meaning. The idea of sitting in a classroom eight hours a day does not appeal to everyone out there. There are hundreds of programs available with flexible schedules and most often an online component, it is just about finding the one that works best for you.
It is a choice you have to make for yourself and I think that’s why it is most important. It can be a small thing such as picking up a new form of working out or learning how to cook your favorite meal or deciding you're going to read a certain amount of books in a certain amount of weeks. It could the simple act of reading an article a day to keep yourself informed. Or it could be as involved as finally taking that ceramics class you’ve been thinking about for years or getting an additional certification. These little goals and tasks can help you feel as though you're still accomplishing something while also working and living and doing everything else that you need to do.
I've always been someone who loves school and the coming of fall and all of the things that go with it. I have and will always love learning and even though school may not of been the thing that you love the most, learning is a lifelong skill that I think everyone should keep in their back pocket. It is the capacity to try something new and to not have the fear of messing up. This becomes even more important as we get older and as we are less involved in the academic world. The ability to learn and to want to keep learning, even when there’s no one telling you to, is key to bettering yourself.
