I've been studying lately how formalities can lead to casualties and how when our casual behavior continues down a line of excellence, there are formal recognition that follow.
It was suggested to me that there are institutions, there are teachers, that support formal organizations and curricula, not because they believe in the immediate consequences that follow, but rather that later on, hopefully in our daily lives, we will apply the lessons and lectures that are learned. When learning becomes less about increasing our knowledge and more about changing our behaviors, the task of learning becomes not a hope for a better situation, but a hope for a better reaction regardless the situation.
To illustrate, when a man knows how to take apart, clean, reassemble and power an engine properly, his reaction to a cracked belt or corroded pipe in his car will be drastically different to that of a man who has never had experience with a car. The training that the man has had allows him to react in a different way to a potentially disastrous situation.
The same applies to school. When we learn something, it is meant to change something we see in the world, and hopefully encourage a different reaction than would otherwise be the case to our own upcoming personal situations. This means that if you are learning about architecture, you can ponder upon the building designs that you see when walking to and from your home. For the writers, reading something as simple as an advertisement or as complex as literature can be the casual change that can show your progress in your formal learning.
Likewise, when a person is able to ponder upon their learning, especially while still in their educational years, they are able to excel further. The casual day to day situations lead to a more interested student in the formal aspect. A man who wonders profoundly upon the brilliance of Newton or Einstein will likely enjoy their physics class more. Those that take the time to exercise and eat right will pay better attention during their nutrition or exercise classes.
So those who are in my same boat (premed) get out there and learn something that links your formal education to daily situations. This is why Nutritional Science has been a great major for me, I LOVE EATING. I do it everyday (usually). If you need to understand something better, go learn about it, formally or casually. Checking a book out from your library can actually encourage your learning in other ways than being right on topic with your classes.
So it comes down to this, when what we learn becomes what we do, we are grateful for the accomplishes that have been made. Likewise when what we do inspires us to learn, we can becomes stalwart students. However, when a formality, in education or vocational training, becomes exactly that- what we do when we are formal, our casual time may suffer. Likewise, when we separate our suffocate our casual time in the pursuit of meaningless studies for the sole purpose of a good grade, our ability to appreciate our formal education declines.
So when it comes down to it, I've been struggling with this- wanting to learn about something formally because my casual time is so separated from what I learn, that I do not apply it. Since I have not been applying it, I have not been enjoying school as much. So in the end, I hope I can fix this big problem that I have had.
Now, for anyone who has continued reading through the entire post, I thank you. I hope you have been able to follow my thoughts. I know sometimes (many times) When I'm thinking about something, trying to communicate what I'm feeling, I hear myself as coherent when really it's like Jielayg KDuik;aiFJ: eahg jk.
| "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." -- Aristotle |
May our thoughts be drawn to the improvement of our lives and the lives of others.
Manere Acutus.
