As students head back to school this fall and social media is flooded with first day of school photos, it’s a good time to reflect on education. What did you learn in school? More importantly: What did you not learn in school that you wish you did?
Business
The gaps in my education became painfully apparent when I launched my own business. I had zero business background. No interest, no experience, no classes, no nothing.
I should have taken a business class.
Journalism
I also never wrote for the school paper. (Well, one divisive political editorial, but that doesn’t really count.) I wasn’t interested in news writing, so I steered clear of journalism. I missed out on the lessons of delivering on a daily schedule, doing interviews, navigating ethics, and so much more. Lessons that would have been really useful now that I run a news site.
I should have written for the school paper.
Learn What You Don’t Love
Much of our approach to education is to pursue what you love. And that’s good advice. It’s how we find our careers and what we want to do with our lives. But it does mean you miss out.
There are things we don’t love that we still need to learn.
And there’s no better, easier, or safer place to learn those things than in school. It’s a lot harder to admit what you don’t know when you’re out in the real world.
Take advantage of those opportunities to try things while you can. It will be a grind. It will be hard. It might be boring. But you’ll learn things you need.
Too Stubborn
Of course that’s easier said than done with the benefit of hindsight. Would a younger me have listened to an older me and taken those classes I really wasn’t interested in? Probably not. I was young and knew it all.