We all have our own reasons for higher education. Some people go to college because they believe getting a degree will get them a job; others go because “that’s just what you’re supposed do” after high school. Some go because they love to learn new things. There is no wrong reason to attend college, because we all have unique educational pursuits and our own ambitions for life. We also have different methods of learning and have individual strengths and weaknesses. This is where it gets tricky with education because some students don’t relate well to the way the school system is operated.
For example, I have a friend who struggles severely in college. His dream is to start his own business, but he keeps needing to re-take his classes due to his difficulties with reading comprehension and homework assignments. On the surface, one could judge that he is a bad student. However, the amazing thing is that he is already beginning to meet his lifelong goal. He has taken what he’s learned in school and started his own longboarding business. He has product designers and manufacturers making longboards on a regular basis because he is constantly selling enough of them to earn a profit. So, this guy is running his own successful business, but he is also failing his business classes and therefore can’t get a degree? That seems strange. This is evidence that the education system has some policies and teaching techniques that are actually holding students back instead of pushing them forward.
Even though my business friend is not passing his college classes, he has grasped the true meaning of education, which is being able to apply and experiment with the things learned in the classroom. Education should help highlight students’ strengths and encourage them to apply those strengths in their lives. Real-life application is what will really prepare students for their careers, not huge lecture classes and endless reading assignments. John Medina, a molecular biologist, found that the learning functions of the brain are in opposition to the way we are learning in the classroom today. He found that the brain learns best through pictures, not through readings or lectures. He also said that most humans have an attention span of around 10 minutes. No wonder those long lecture classes are so hard to get through. Are students really being taught in the best way possible?
I want to see people receive more individual attention and personal application in their education. Having a cookie-cutter way of teaching the masses may have worked in years past, but this is a new generation with new needs and learning methods. If everyone is being taught the same way, they’re not being taught equally. A reformation to the current school system can help many. Like Albert Einstein said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
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