It’s a given that you’ll attend school your entire life, from the first tear-filled day of kindergarten to the last tear-filled day of high school graduation. Regardless of how you look at it, your education is predetermined for you. The next step is entirely up to you.
The “learning bug” can strike even at a young age for some people. “Nerd,” “teacher’s pet,” “brown-nose,” and other derogatory terms may be used by other pupils, but in the future, those same kids will refer to that “nerd” as sir or ma’am or Boss. As the nerds and brown noses of the world rise through the ranks, they will instruct others who are less educated to build new rungs in order to enhance their own ascent.
Education isn’t what you’re compelled to study, it’s not the knowledge you crammed into your head and could recite word for word from memory. It doesn’t count as education because none of it is actually learned. To be educated, one must have the ability to apply what they’ve learned. While memorization can help you ace a few exams, it does not endow you with the knowledge you need. No, I do not believe that I am cheating my teacher by not trying to understand the material. In the end, you are only cheating yourself.
Continuing to learn new things will keep your brain active far into old age, according to research. It will continue to develop and rebuild electrical connections the more you work to learn new things. Take a language class or a cooking class to broaden your horizons and learn a new cuisine. It’s in your best interest to do as much as you can to keep your mind active and alert. “Brains love a surprise,” according to a study of 25 men and women conducted by scientists in Atlanta, Georgia. In the pleasure area of the brain, which is constantly learning, there is increased activity because a happy brain is also a healthy brain, and a happy brain is also a learning brain.
If you’re putting off going back to school because of your age or any other reason, let go of it. How many news stories have you seen about a seventy-year-old who returned to school to complete his or her secondary education? There is no reason why you can’t succeed in the same way. I wanted to go back to school to get a degree, but I kept letting things get in the way. When I was done, I returned to my original location. As I contemplated the obstacles that might impede my academic progress, I devised strategies for overcoming each one. Because my age doesn’t affect me, I didn’t include it.