A lesson all ages of students should learn. A realization.

Usually my blogs are the opposite of serious. They're light hearted and sarcastic and just fun. But this one actually has substance to it. {hooray!}

So I've been thinking back on the past 16 years of my life. My education career.
From the time you're in late grade school many kids start learning the tricks and loop holes in assignments and papers for playing the game to not necessarily learn more, but get the desired "A" grade instead.

I've been thinking about my high school classes and about how many times I did certain things begrudgingly or without thinking about it, not doing it to actually try learning something in the process. I regret it now. I didn't always do this. I mean, I've always loved to learn, but I really regret not always having the attitude in every class to actually learn instead of just do.

A couple examples-

English. I was taught all these crazy English rules and things in my HS English classes. We were given worksheets or assignments to help us remember them but I just did them like a speed demon to get them over with and get the grade but I never took the time to actually understand them. And now I can't remember when to use whom vs who, a semi colon vs a dash vs a colon, the rules on commas, etc. So, pretty much all the rules.

Science. This subject had to be my least favorite. I took the bare minimum of classes in high school in this department and I can't tell you anything I learned and actually still remember. If I would have paid attention in my chemistry class, all the chemicals  we use in my photo classes would be easier to understand and would have meaning to me. I wish I could remember the difference between the different endings to the names. When I'm all grown up and I'm a mom and my kids ask me for help on their biology homework, I'll just be able to tell them dissecting sharks is nasty business. And pretty much the only bone I can tell you the name and location of is the femur.

And as much as I didn't learn in high school, I still graduated with a 3.96 GPA.
Sure it got me a scholarship, and sure I have good grades in college, but I'm just now realizing how much more important learning is and not just doing what is required.

This all hit me today after my marketing class.
We had to read the first chapter and take a quiz online. But, growing up in the era that nearly everyone skips the reading, opens the quiz and searches in the chapter for just the answers on the quiz instead of learning what the chapter is saying, I did this. the reason why this hit me today was that I'm taking this class for fun. It's not a requirement for me to graduate at the end of the semester. I sincerely want to learn how to market my photography business and yet I was not trying at all to learn in this class how to do it. What is the point in taking this class I wanted to benefit from if I'm just going to do the bare minimum to get the grade? It's not. And it really made me stop and take a look back on every time I've done this in a class I was not interested in.

Which leads me to my Computers in art class. It covers photoshop, Indesign, and Illustrator. I already know how to use photoshop and indesign so I was mentally complaining in class about having to do the tutorials to learn how to use them but then stopped. I realized again that I'm at college to learn. Yes, I want a degree, but If  I don't learn everything I came here to learn then this was a total waste! Yes, I know how to use the programs, but there is no way I know everything about them! So why wasn't my initial reaction excitement to learn more about something I love?! I just don't know why I haven't made these connections earlier. It makes me want to put my self in a time-out.

I think we're in a society of doing rather than for learning. If we weren't, then:

•  Why are there classes you can take for speed reading. If you only scan the chapter sure you probably will pick up on the main points of the stuff you read, but you definitely didn't learn everything you could have. 

• Why is my GRE textbook on all the ways you can find the answers by knowing all the ways the test maker's trick you. Shouldn't they want to find out how much you know, not about how well you can find their tricks?

• Why are there so many ways provided for us to get around doing things the way we'd actually learn something from doing?

I'm not saying that I haven't worked hard, because I really have. But I chose when I actually wanted to learn and I chose when I didn't care and just wanted an "A". 

This is proving now to be something that is going to make my life harder with the grad school application process. 

Hopefully any who read this who aren't in their last semester of college can benefit from my realization earlier than I did.