What is the point of school?
My ingenious friends, It is wise and intelligent of you to hit that button and to be here with me today, because listen, my goal today is to pick a fight, and perhaps to start a fire inside of you, that I hope will burn for a very long time. Over the years you've asked us questions about school, and we've been listening, and today I hope that I can deliver an intelligent and persuasive response to your questions. I wonder if you've ever thought of these questions yourself? Questions like:
- "What's the point of school?"
- "Why am I going to school, if it doesn't seem to match what I want to do in the future?"
- "How can I stay motivated in school when It doesn't match up with what I love to do?
- "Why invest time and effort into subjects that I don't see myself using in the real world?"
I'll be super honest, these are critical questions that deserve critical and thoughtful responses. I promise you, you're not the first, nor will you be the last to ask these questions. Most of the people in this planet have experienced the love and hate relationship that sometimes exists with school and education. I'm glad you were gutsy enough to ask the question, and I'm hoping you'll be courageous enough to stick around to hear a response.
Remember that your ideas... your psychology... your perspective becomes the lens by which you see and interpret the world and the events in your life. John Milton said, "The mind is it's own place, and in itself can make a heaven out of misery, and a misery out of heaven." In other words, it's not the circumstance that matters most, but your perspective about your circumstance that ultimately carries the day.
Remember the story of Nelson Mandela who unjustly spent 27 years in a hard labor camp in South Africa. When he was released, he became president of that country, and when asked about, how he was able to handle the injustice and the suffering of prison, he responded "what suffering...? It was preparation!" Now listen, I don't care who you are, but you can't hear that story and not see how his incredible perspective transformed his experience. Nelson Mandela later said "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world," and I dare say, that he was able to do just that.
My humble desire today it is to give you some reason... some motivation, and inspiration, not just to get you to survive your school years, but to get you to thrive. My goal is never just to finish, I'm always looking for every possible way to enjoy what I'm doing in the present... because listen... why be miserable? I mean, if I'm here, doing something, why not find loads of joy, happiness, friendship, and success right here, right now, doing what I'm doing? I promise you now, and I hope with everything that I've got inside of me, that if you're willing to adjust your thinking, your perspective, and your vision, that you will uncover more happiness, satisfaction, and purpose right there wherever you are!
This reminds me of a " short story of a man who left his farm and traveled to a faraway country in search of diamonds. While there he worked, struggled, and bled in search for those diamonds for years, only to find none. Discouraged, he came home. As he returned to his own fields, and as he began to plow the land, he uncovered diamonds that were there, in his own land, all along." I hope you get what I'm trying to say. My brilliant friends, the treasure is here, right now... it's not out there.
I'm certain you've heard of Malala Yousafzai. When the Taliban took over her town, education for girls was banned, and became a crime. Her family moved to another place, but soon after the Taliban arrived and reinstated those same restrictions. At the age of 11, Malala essentially became an activist for education, in doing this, she had essentially signed her death warrant.
In 2012, a masked gunman boarded a school bus in Mingora, Pakistan, and demanded to know which girl was Malala Yousafzai. As the terrified schoolgirls unintentionally turned to look at her, the gunman raised his weapon and shot Malala in the neck and head. Thankfully she survived. Malala says, "I don't want to be thought of as the 'girl who was shot by the Taliban' but the 'girl who fought for education." She also said "We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow. Education is one of life's blessings. It's also one of its necessities."
Look, I'm not here to say that education is perfect... that there aren't any problems. I realize that some of you are having, and have had bad experiences with it. I'm certain that some of you watching right now are struggling to find motivation, or really struggling with some of your classes, teachers, and school, but listen to me, I am here to try and persuade you to grab a hold of every possible advantage in your life. My objective is your success... your happiness... you feeling like you have a place in this world, and that you can make it, and let me be clear, you absolutely can and will. Not every path will be the same, certainly, but look, you need a foundation! You need something to build your life upon, and education can become that solid ground for you. Think of your intelligence as a well of life-saving water that you continually fill. This well of knowledge and experience, becomes one of the sources from which you will pull throughout your life.
Remember that intelligence is diverse, and interactive. Creativity and inspiration usually happen as your brain pulls from your sources of knowledge... interacts with the different disciplines inside your mind, and is able to create something entirely new. Think of a piano player, or an artist, or a hockey player, or a dancer... As these individuals dive into their skills... as they invest and build upon that source of knowledge and experience, the brain and body are then able to not only become better and improve, but the brain also begins to improvise and to create something completely unique and new. Feed that mind and body of yours, and reap the awesome benefits of those choices. Remember the great law of life, "whatever you nourish and invest in, grows and expands. Whatever you neglect and starve, atrophies and dies."
Can I give you five quotes, ideas, and tips that can improve your experience with education and in school? Here you go:
- Commit to the idea of education. It's not just for Terryl or Lucy, or for other people. Your brain, body, and spirit are made to grow, learn, expand, and evolve. Whether it's online, in person, as an apprentice, with a skill, or vocation, learning through education is one of the great purposes of life, and it is directly connected to your ability to experience more happiness and value.
- You get what you put in. I know this is cliche, and not the first time you've heard of this concept, but look, it begins with you! In a crazy way, you determine what the outcome will be, long before it's here, and what determines that outcome has everything to do with your attitude. Zig Ziglar (which you have to admit is a cool name) said "Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude."
- Remember that education isn't just for you and about you: Your life now, and your future, is larger than you. Look, your efforts now will not only bless the future you, but they will also be a tremendous advantage to your future spouse, children, partner, business opportunities, and your ability to feel connected and valuable to the world around you.
- Embrace a growth mindset: You might be sick of 'growth mindset' chatter, but you can't argue with the results. Across all disciplines, in sports, education, and relationships, when people like you have a growth mindset perspective, in other words, when you believe that your ability, intelligence, and skills can and will grow and become better, through your dedication, effort, and patience; people perform better, they're more persistent and resilient, more optimistic about the outcomes, and honestly in the end, they're happier, and suffer less, because these people realize that it's all part of the process baby! Quit selling yourself the idea that things just aren't for you, or that you weren't meant for this or that... enough with placing all of these limits on yourself, and instead write this idea in stone in your mind and heart.
- School isn't just about school: Nora Ephron said "Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead." My hard rockin' amigos, I know school can be a source of pain, discomfort, failure, and anxiety in your life, and to be honest, I can't save you from that, in fact, I wouldn't save you from that, in part because I know that your ability to face those challenges that stretch and pull you, are so essential to your psychological and emotional growth. You need confidence. You're going to need courage. You're going to need emotional and psychological muscle to push victoriously and beautifully through all of the nonsense that you're going to find in life. School isn't just about grades, it's about increasing your ability to network with people, to be part of a team, to do things you don't want to do. It's about enhancing your ability to focus. It's about learning to ask for help and staying humble. It's about doing hard, until it doesn't feel so hard anymore. It's about teaching you how to bounce back, and how to have an academic comeback. So learn right here and now to be part of the solution... learn to work a problem, and to stay with it until it is finished. School is a microcosm of society, and a place where you get to practice what it's like to succeed and fail. Look, there's bad everywhere, can we just agree on that... you don't need to look for it, it's going to find you, and honestly there's plenty of blame to go around, but instead, I hope you don't fall in that trap... and I mean the trap of blaming everyone else, of always finding excuses, and complaining... I know you and I can throw a great pity party, but to be honest, all of those strategies only do one thing... they convince you and I, that the solution to all of our problems resides somewhere outside of us, with someone else, or some place... but that just isn't true. I don't believe you and I are powerless, in fact I believe that you and I are powerful. Marianne williamson said "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? ...There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. (...)It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Sorry for getting a little carried away, but just know that you have a fan here, that believes in you, and that is cheering you on. Be cool and stay in school!
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