Saturday, June 26, 2021

The rest of your life

A friend hears that you have enrolled in typing classes and asks "Do you want to be a typist for the rest of your life?"  I recommend noting that you don't know much about "the rest of your life."  At around age 20, you may not realize that you will be abducted by aliens and spend the rest of your life on one of the planet Jupiter's moons, cooking moonburgers and caring for your 17 children and their adorable children.  The rest of your life may take some twists and turns that just are not possible to see, maybe even to imagine, just now.


It is common for young people to ask impatiently how they will ever use the subjects schools and colleges require.  Was it really important for me to read Julius Caesar's "Gallic Wars"?  How much good did it do me to learn the names of Lincoln's cabinet members?  An old distinction in educational thinking is that of vocational vs. conceptual.  Being a good typist or coder or teller may get me a paying job but having a feel for historical tragedies and literary tragedies can broaden my vision and strengthen my ability to sympathize with others.  We can't tell at early ages what trials and tests we will face.  Every subject that you can find books and videos and courses about has shown itself to be of use. You can't learn them all but you can experience a broad array of subjects and experiences, plus you can develop a habit of exploring intelligently.  


I had a class of students preparing to be elementary school teachers and some of them expressed fear that they might not get jobs in that field.  I looked into the matter and found that previous graduates with energy and curiosity had been hired into a wide range of jobs on the basis of their promising traits and willingness to learn.  Life is considerably bigger and both richer and more challenging than just one's occupation.

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