On Education

I read an article on Rookie about leaving high school and since I read it I just want to educate myself. I have a real urge to read non-fiction and articles on the New York Times and Rookie because I really just want to push the boundaries of my knowledge and empathy because I believe the two are very closely linked.

Ever since I was very young I have enjoyed education, specifically in terms of Biology. I used to read books on the human body and play Learning Ladder in Geography and English and Maths and I had a Sesame Street game. However, I've found the A Level syllabus fairly limited. Don't get me wrong, not having to do French or History is great, but I often feel that I get a very narrow education with it. I really like how specific the syllabus is, however, I feel like there is very little emphasis on finding things you enjoy in a topic. For example, I really enjoy learning about the nervous system in terms of pain but I have only learned about the mechanisms in which an impulse occurs. That basic knowledge is useful, but there needs to be more emphasis on relating it to your real life interests.

I do have a Biology teacher who attempts to do this but she really explores her interests rather than ours. She also sets a lot of work which I don't think stimulates this kind of learning because by the time I've finished all that work I'm too tired to read and write and I just end up watching PLL.

My school does push me with this which I am grateful for. We were made to do a 5000 word essay last year and as much as I moaned about citations I do believe it was a good experience for me. I learned how to research, write scientifically and it really made me feel like I was an expert on the topic I picked. I think developing these skills was a really good thing for me because we're not taught skills enough. I have been in school for 15 and a half years now but I've never been taught to write or revise or draw or budget. I've had to work them out as I go, and never in an environment where I wasn't doing the real deal. I've never been encouraged to keep a personal diary or sketchbook. I wish my education had included these things.

I think this is all coming from my current headspace which is very much a headspace of self improvement as my health improves. I want to become a better writer and live in a better space and try to become as educated as I can be. I feel that I haven't had the energy ever since May 2012 to do all this and now I have it I want to pour it into making uni-me the best me. I'm currently reading a book about pain where one woman felt like she had been asleep for 10 years and now she had to catch up on everything. That's how I'm feeling at the moment. Catching up.