Learning is a lifelong endeavour
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/08/2016 (3393 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It’s that time again. When parents and students anticipate the start of another school year. For some, it may be a first. For others, the last.
My kids are right in the middle. The middle school years.
I’ve got a little experience under my belt, my oldest having just completed middle school. I have a feeling though, that each kid will go through it with different joys and challenges. So, when my daughter found a new book in the library entitled Surviving Middle School and went for it, I decided to read it, too.
The author, Luke Reynolds, is a middle-school teacher who sees the potential for greatness in each of his students and seeks to bring it out. Now he has written a handbook. His quirky style and knack for story-telling make the book a fun read for anyone.
What I most appreciated were Reynolds’ values. He encourages students to develop gritty perseverance, curiosity, and the ability to see beneath the surface while he exposes the lies of marketing and the trap of comparison in our daily lives. He uses simple, straightforward language and goofy analogies that stick in the brain, and he finishes each chapter with a practical exercise.
The book was filled with memorable quotes. Some of my favourites were:
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It’s only those who do nothing that make no mistakes.”
— Joseph Conrad, Polish novelist
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
— attributed to Theodore Roosevelt
The truth is we can all learn from the lessons this book teaches.
How many of us still believe we have to be stronger or more beautiful to make it in life? How many of us look at others and feel worse about ourselves? How many of us give up on our dreams when we go through a setback? Or put enormous pressure on ourselves to be perfect? Have we lost our sense of wonder, or do we still ask why? Or have we always accepted what we were told without questioning? Do we seek out people’s stories or do we make snap judgments?
How much we still have to learn when we’re adults.
As the new school year approaches, let’s remember that we are all students of life —so, never stop learning. And don’t forget to be gracious to other students. They’re learning, too.
Sonya Braun is a community correspondent for the North End. You can contact her at sonyajoy@gmail.com
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