Throughout elementary school, junior high, high school, and college, I was a poor student. I had brief spurts where I’d manage to bring my grades up to decent levels, but for the most part I did my best to not drop below C’s. I was a poor note taker, struggled to pay attention in class, and found homework to be unbearably dull. I was such a difficult student that one of my teachers suggested that my IQ was too low for regular classes. School was miserable for me. All of this changed when I went to graduate school. Between 5 years of classes and 2 masters degrees, I earned one B+. The rest of my classes were passed with A’s. I was on the dean’s list every semester and graduated magna cum laude twice. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out what changed between my early education and later schooling. I believe it was two things. First, I cared more about what I was studying in graduate school. The classes all fascinated me. I really wanted to know what I was learning, and my motivation was increased. I saw the same thing when my high school English teacher taught material I was interested in. The second thing that changed was that my graduate school was all distance learning. I watched lectures online. I read books. I researched. I learned independently. I hate sitting in classrooms, meetings, or anywhere that I’m expected to be quiet and pay attention. I discovered that I am able to learn on my own. The reason I am sharing this is because I have met all sorts of folks who are intelligent, but don’t think so because they have not discovered the style of learning or subjects that enables them to excel. Not everyone does well in a classroom setting. Some folks learn more efficiently through reading, listening to lectures while walking, discussing, or hands on experiences. It is tragic when folks reach a level of frustration that makes them simply give up on learning because they don’t see the joy in doing it. When our God-given curiosity is quenched, and we stop looking for new things to explore, we lose something great. One of coolest aspects of the creation story in the Bible is when God sends Adam out to check out the world and name the animals. God made a big, amazing, beautiful world for Adam to enjoy. Learning about the world around us is a way of getting to know God and enjoying His creation. This is a huge deal in our day and age, when almost anything you could find interesting is a Google search away and millions of books are available to download or order for minimal cost. Universities post their lectures online for free and folks post videos teaching on almost any subject to YouTube. We live in a time where an ocean of knowledge fits on a phone we carry in our pockets everywhere we go. All it takes to learn anything you could possibly want to learn is curiosity and knowing how you learn best. This takes some work and some willingness to invest the time to learn how to learn. One of the best habits I’ve developed in my life is learning new skills. I learned to fix my car by buying a book and tools. I learned to repair computers by making friends with guys who did that sort of thing and asking a lot of questions. I learned about classical music by taking a class I bought for $20 on Audible and reading a couple books from the library. All it takes to explore the world around us is an interest and a little effort. Becoming a lifelong learner is one for the best decisions you can make for your own happiness.
