Learning Outside the Classroom

Looking back on my 54 years, I’d have to say I’ve probably learned as much or more outside the classroom as I have inside.

Read

As I’ve mentioned, I’m a voracious reader. I always have been. I read a wide range of topics - fiction and non-fiction. I pick up books that appear interesting, hunt down books on things that I’m curious about and make myself read books that I should have been assigned by my teachers years ago. I can’t think of a better way to educate one’s self than reading.

Travel

When I was young, my parents took trips all over the place. We camped in a tent or towed our little pop-up camper to camp grounds. We visited Cape Hatteras, Niagara Falls, Cape Cod, Cape Ann, Washington, DC and a quaint little town called McKeller, Ontario (apparently there is some distant relation, despite the spelling difference). 

We visited Washington, DC two consecutive April vacations. Can you imagine a better place to learn about US history than Washington? When I was 15, I was fortunate to visit England for two weeks. Seeing things with your own eyes makes them real. We stayed at bed and breakfasts throughout England, immersing ourselves in our host’s world for a little bit. Putting my hands on Stonehenge is a lifelong memory. 

Many of my students have traveled extensively - what a wonderful thing. There is no substitute for being somewhere.

Work

First you learn how to work: that showing up, on-time, and being ready to work is critical, that you are expected to work hard. Then you learn how to work with other people; how to take orders how to admit mistakes, how to get along with people you don’t like or who don’t like you. You learn skills; dishwashing, potato peeling, construction, sales, customer service, dealing with the public, you name it, you’ll learn it by working.

Experience

There is no substitute in life for experience. It comes in time. You can’t rush the process.  People learn from mistakes. There’s a quote that floats through my mind sometimes, “There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience and that is not learning from experience.”

Of course, learning inside the classroom is important, just don’t fool yourself into thinking school ends at 2:30 or at your college graduation - it really only ends when you stop breathing.