Hello, my name is Spenser. As one student, I have a story. Mine. My story, as you shall soon see, is about life-long learning- defined in On Course, Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life, as “finding valuable lessons and wisdom in nearly every experience one has.”
At this point my life has not been very long. I’m nearly 21, and with the miracles of modern medicine, that’s only about ¼ of the way to being dead. I have a long way to go. While I’m just completing the changes that come with the ending of my life's formative years, like my brain and personality being fully developed, finally figuring out what “interest rates” are, and growing out of my acne and into my boobs, I realize that while I’ve learned a lot- I still have a lot to learn. I know that this is one thing about me that will never change- no matter what happens or how I’m affected, I will always have something new to find out about.
That’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a good thing. I love learning new things. I know what Napoleon’s biggest mistake was, why Dijon mustard isn’t produced in Dijon, and all about Harry Potter. While these things may seem unrelated and irrelevant to the topic at hand (and I assure you- they aren’t.) they all have one thing in common- I had to seek them out in order to learn about them. I took a history class, looked up mustard on the Internet, and took my time reading every Harry Potter book. I wanted to know more.
In college and in life, I make it my mission to learn as much as I can about everything. Knowledge is power, and I aim to be an evil mastermind, a giant brain, an encyclopedia in high-heels. The first step to life-long learning is wanting to learn, wanting to know more, a need to seek information. I have all of that and more. Whenever a problem arises, my first instinct is to Google it, find a book about it, or ask someone who knows. (Thanks to it being the year 2010, I usually use Google as a first resort.)
One situation where I benefited greatly from my joy of learning was during my World Civilizations class last semester. With an avid interest in Medieval Times and a desire to do well on assignments, I listened raptly to my instructor as she told of Crusades and Popes, cathedrals and rats, famine and fiefdom. I took it upon myself to read everything I could find and go out of my way to do excellent work on the topic at hand. Because of my love of learning, I did great in the class and got a lot of out it- a lot of things I still find fascinating and am still interested in.
Sometimes I learn things that are valuable to me, such as how to cook for myself and drive my car. Other things are not so important- like Harry Potter’s favorite food (treacle tart) or how to make balloon animals. However, this is of no matter- it doesn’t matter WHAT you learn, as long as you bothered to learn it. The old saying “You learn something new everyday.” doesn’t necessarily refer to learning something academic, as long as you set forth that day with the desire to expand your mind in some way.
In the future, I don’t plan to stop learning about things. I’ll always be seeking out knowledge, until I know everything there is to know about anything that ever is. Sadly, since there is a lot more stuff in the universe than there is Spenser, I am setting a rather lofty goal for myself. I’ll never know everything, if I live a thousand years, but I’ll get closer with every word I read and every experience I have. There will be many, and I am few, and soon my brain will be so packed I’ll have to forget things or risk explosion. But that’s alright with me. I’ll just want to know what caused the spontaneous combustion in the first place.
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