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In 1969, my dad took me to Mrs. Tucker's kindergarten class. I hid behind his overcoat, scared out of my wits. That began my seven years in elementary school, to be followed by three years in junior high, three years in high school, and five years in college.
Upon graduation—at 23 years old and with a brand new little baby in tow—I finally realized that I loved to read.
Having spent 18 years being told how to spend nearly every waking moment, reading and learning of any kind was a drudgery. It was boring. It was tedious. It was anything but exciting. But having the ability and freedom to read what I was actually interested in opened up a new whole to me. Sleeping was no longer an option, because there were so many things I wanted to find out about.
It's a sad commentary, I suppose, that so many find learning to be a four-letter word. But I'm just glad I finally saw the light.
Learning continually throughout life is vital if you are to make informed choices about your life and the society in which you live.
This week I've watched the barrage of Twitter posts from recent Obama voters crying about the chunk they just saw come out of their paychecks. They are what we call “low information voters.” (Or maybe just “low ethics voters.”) They were screaming happy about policies that gave them free stuff as long as it was “the other guy” who paid for it. But when it came out of their own bottom line, the whining started.
[These Twitter posts have been removed.]
Why didn't they know this before? What is it about basic arithmetic that so eluded them? How can anyone with a modicum of common sense think you can tax and spend your way out of a financial crisis? (And, yes, I'm implying that Biden doesn't have a modicum of common sense. Obama? I don't think getting out of the financial crisis is his goal.)
The country we live in today has been created by choices and votes. How much better we would be if those making the decisions and electing the officials had taken the time to read and research the issues and candidates.
We owe it to our children to clean this mess up and we will do it only be being educated.
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Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.
Looks like one of the Twitter comments was deleted. I’d be embarrassed, too.
Sorry to say that I think a lot of people do know what’s happening, they just don’t care as long as they get the stuff they want.
Without a class and a grade, sometimes it’s hard to motivate myself to do the hard work of learning new skills. (Does anyone else notice it gets harder as we get older?) But when I follow through I’m very proud of myself. 🙂
Ever since I’ve been out of school, I try to read two non-fiction books each month. One in my career area and the other in another topic. It helps me keep interested and informed.
I register for community classes almost every session. Sometimes they are just for fun, but sometimes I challenge myself with something hard, like art history or physics challenge.