“When am I ever going to use this info?” That is the burning question lingering quietly in the busy minds of all students. It could be elementary, middle, high school, or even college… some people arrive at this curious thought earlier than others. When the time comes, the student naturally wants to see a clear relationship between theoretical educational lessons from class and real world practical application.
At the initial moment of questioning it’s easy for a student to discredit the theoretical academic lessons, making an assumption that the information is useless outside of the classroom. “When will I ever need to do complex factorials or find determinants of multi dimensional matrices? Will I ever really need to recite the dates of prominent historical events?” The answer is simple: Maybe you will, and maybe you won’t.
The key is to become conscious of the fact that you will never truly appreciate the importance of the knowledge you have learned until the moment you actually need it. This split-second epiphany of understanding is rather astonishing. It’s simply one of the most satisfying experiences in an educational career, the instant it all comes together. In that silent moment, one makes the clear connection between formal education and real world application. This moment too comes at different times for different people, but it’s a brilliant feeling when the childhood world of formal education that most of us live in for nearly 2 decades intersects fluidly with a problem placed before you in adulthood.
Yes, it is impossible to retain every theoretical lesson ever learned. That’s just an obvious predicament we must live with. The important thing is to understand why it was not a waste of time, something I think we all eventually figure out for ourselves.
Daily Blog Tips posted an article entitled “
As soon as email writers start using text phrases to characterize emotion that would normally be delivered via physical body language, the intended message could be misunderstood by the reader due to a complete misinterpretation of the writer’s emotional tone. It’s also important to note that intentional sarcasm in an email message only makes matters worst. The source of the problem with email communication deals directly with emotion. Emotion portrayed in a text based email can be interpreted differently when being read by different people, in much of the same way that a well written poem or set of song lyrics can receive various interpretations by various people.
When I joined the Marines as an active duty soldier in the mid 1990’s my first job as a lowly 18 year old Private First Class was picking up trash on the military base. I worked with 5 other soldiers my age. We drove a pickup truck around the base for several hours every morning picking up other people’s garbage bags and emptying small dumpsters. Military or not, we were garbage men, through and through. What initially seemed like a nightmare, actually ended up turning into one of the greatest jobs I’ve ever had.
All too often in the news we read success stories supporting the endeavors of young career professionals that put “their lives” on hold while in pursuit of the prestigious career and job title of their dreams. I’m not saying it’s wrong, I truly believe you should pursuit your dreams. Putting all your effort into achieving something you truly desire makes sense… it is basis behind the American dream. However, there must be a balance. The time spent on business matters can never be recovered. If sufficient time is not allocated to fostering new relationships and nurturing current ones, will the end result suitably reflect the original envisioned dream, or will it leave something to be desired?