I have been fortunate to receive an unquestionably strong education. The small school which I attended from Kindergarten through graduation (all in the same building) afforded me a wonderful opportunity to learn and explore. While my school did not have much outside of the basics in educational course offerings, I was provided with a solid base from which I could continue to grow. There were also more than enough opportunities to become involved in extracurricular activities due to the smaller number of students and plenty of slots to fill in clubs, organizations, sports, and fine arts. I think that I learned almost as much from my involvement in these extra-curricular offerings as I did in my classroom experiences. At least in regard to application of what I was learning.

Following my elementary, junior high school, and high school education pursuits, I was fortunate to attend small liberal arts college. The first one I attended for a year and then I transferred to a second college where I spent four years completing my undergraduate studies. Before you jump to any conclusions, I was not kicked out of my first college, I transferred so that I was closer to home. My undergraduate experiences mirrored my secondary education. The size of the institution gave to me easy access to classes, professors, and extra-curricular activity involvement. I even extended my final year over two years to take advantage of a unique learning opportunity. I was hired for a new student position at the college. This position was to be the student manager of all the student employees in the college’s multipurpose facility. I was asked to create a management structure, write job descriptions for all student positions (including my own), create policies, create schedules, and any necessary documents. For the first year, I hired, trained, and supervised all the student staff. The following year I spent the first semester supervising staff and making revisions to the structure, policies, and documents. I then hired my replacement and trained the individual during my final semester.

After graduating from college, I began a career in retail management followed by short work experiences at a data management firm and a nonprofit health organization. I then made the decision to return to formal education by going to a university to receive my Master’s degree. Again, I was offered the opportunity to become involved in campus life this time as a residence hall director.

These formal forms of education have been a tremendous asset to me. However, I believe that just because a person is not in a classroom, this does not mean that education no longer continues or can even happen. I think it is vital for each one of us to continuously learn. As I alluded to earlier, I think learning occurs not solely in classroom settings but equally in out-of-classroom situations. Every time I was actively enrolled in an institution, I had experiences which enhanced, broadened, and added to my classroom education.

I also think that for some individuals classroom education has limitations. Every person is not designed to leave a secondary education setting and attend a traditional four-year liberal arts institution. Some of us are better equipped to attend a trade school. Some are better equipped to become students of experiences. No matter how we are created, we all have the ability to learn even if it is through different methods.

The other important item concerning education is that it should be never ending. In my own experience, I continue to read, listen, and explore. Through each of these tools, I discover and learn all types of new pieces of knowledge. There is not an age limit on learning and expanding what a person knows. In fact, I would argue that like a muscle in the body, if you stop working your mind, you will see a deterioration. My observation in life is that as you learn new and different bits of information, your viewpoint in life changes and you discover new opportunities.

I challenge you to continue to learn each day. Consider it a successful day of life if you end the day knowing something which you did not know as you started the day. Life has a lot of lessons to teach us and each of us are equipped to discover a new lesson each day.