Learning How To Learn by Asia

Learning How To Learn by Asia - July 2019 Scholarship Essay

SKOOL SUX!
Gotcha! I’m lying!
For some reason, school normally isn’t unbearable for me. I don’t dread waking up to go to school to sit in classes for 8 hours. I’m embarrassed to admit it occasionally, but I normally like going to school. I sit in my classes and I’m grateful for the chance to learn, to discuss classwork with my friends, and to engage with my teachers. I honestly think that it’s fun. I don’t feel this way every day, because I’m not a number-crunching, essay-writing, fact-regurgitating robot. But there is a passion for education that I know that I have even if I don’t feel it on certain days. I understand that every tidbit learned is an accomplishment that will help me in some way at some time, and so educating myself is a passion for me. Having a passion for education means that learning brings both joy and fulfillment.
Modern students are the most college-focused yet. But I believe that a true passion for education doesn’t always reveal itself on college applications. Of course, having a limitless curiosity can manifest itself through academic achievements. In no way am I negating the previous sentence when I say the following statement! But if this idea of *PASSION FOR EDUCATION + HARD WORK = scholarly triumphs* was always valid, then my baseball-loving history nerd of a father is the epitome of an educational paradox. Back in the Paleolithic era, when he attended high school and college, he was your stereotypical jock. He rushed through his homework so that he could rush off to his real passion, sports practice. So what changed in his mindset to evoke his passion for education? Nothing at all.
Nowadays he finds himself back in the classroom, teaching language and math to gifted fifth and sixth graders, teaching those who love being taught. My father has a passion for what he calls “useless information”; basically, you want him on your trivia team. He celebrates and shares the facts that most people either don’t bother with or the facts that have been long-forgotten. While his own passion for education is not demonstrated through essay-writing or test-taking, he consistently reminds me that the most important aspect of childhood schooling is not to learn concepts such as the Ohm’s Law or even to apply those concepts to the “real” world. He says that we are in school in order to learn how to learn. Learning how to learn (while still in school) means that you are allowing yourself to be accepting of new concepts and ideas that can actually apply in a “real world” job or experience. Having a passion for education means being able to open your mind to growth of all types. Now THAT is a “real world” skill. Educational opportunities are everywhere. Academic or not, these opportunities enrich one’s life. My passion for education means that I am opening myself up to change and growth through diligent pursuits of knowledge and hard work. Inside or outside of the classroom, I stay curious and engaged because I can make a meaningful experience out of every experience that I have.