Continuing from the last article post, I am writing today’s prompt. A lesson I had to learn the hard way was the difference between education and being educated. If you read the last sentence, you may feel that the two are one in the same. I had also thought that way form a majority of my life. The reasoning behind that thinking is the way the education system is set up in North America.
As I have gone to school in both America and Canada, I now see the difference between the two. Granted, our countries systems share the same type of grade and progression structure. The only difference being, in Canada, we do not do SATs or ACTs as in America. In Canada, we see education as a right of all people, regardless of skill or background. Whereas comapred to the states, a system that claims to be merit based, is in reality a socioeconomic barrier designed to keep the “undeserving” out.
With that in mind, I’m reminded of a quote by Jaspreet Sighn of the Minority Mindset youtube channel.
“In America, children are taught what to think.Not how to think”.
Hearing that sentence outloud finally made a lot of sense. I was fortunate enough learn in a system that allowed critical thinking and exploration interests. Even though, I failed at post secondary multiple times, I was at least trainied in how to learn something new using my abilities. I guess that’s why I continue to try to learn something new everyday.
Still, I fell into the sucess failure trap at post-secondary because my emotional intelligence wasn’t developed enough. Due to not understanding my learning style, I struggled and switched majors several times. When I had to take entry level positions always attempted to learn something.
To this day, I try to live by this value. I know that I am responsible for how far I want to go in my career and life.
And self-education is how I plan to live my best life.