Exploring Education

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education," so did Mark Twain say and my naive perspective swayed.

The moment I read this particular quote, which is painted on the road across Palma Hall in UP Diliman, when I was a freshman, I have started viewing my position as a student as a right, a privilege, and a responsibility.

Education is the acquiring of knowledge and the judicious use of it for the advancement and development of yourself and your community. Thus, it is imperative that everyone should be given an opportunity to grow holistically as a person so one could be a positive contribution to his society. From the school-age girl to the street vendor, the store owner to the office bachelor, the basketball player to the fashion model, the restaurant chef, the fisherman, to the farmer, every man internalizes the need to learn and be educated. This is why one of my interviewees, a house helper, viewed education as "the learning of skills one needed to live. It is an important part of your life so you can get a living."

Yet, not everyone is given that opportunity and the venue to enhance whatever skills they need to continue living. More so, a lot of us do not realize that, everyday, we are presented with these learning opportunities. Without this awareness, an overwhelming number of people miss these opportunities and thus, never learn from it. No wonder, in my interviews, the respondents easily identify the difference of "nag-aral" and "may pinag-aralan."

According to them, one who is "nag-aral" is one who went to school, acquired skills, and never went beyond that. On the other hand, someone who is "may pinag-aralan" is a person whose characteristics is refined and "ginagamit ang napag-aralan sa mabuting bagay at hindi sa sariling kapakanan lamang."

And it is rightfully so. For only those who recognize the privilege of their position as learners can fully grasp the enormous responsibility that comes from it. It is also doubly amazing that those who are truly educated are the ones who never stop. For the more they know, the lesser they feel they are as the are presented with a bigger and growing awareness of the world they are in.