The People's Lost Connection With Education

There is something very important that America is missing today.

While education is more widespread than it has been in the history of the world, and more abundant, it's empty. People shove facts into their heads all day long, and they do learn, but do you know what they are missing? A connection. The questions asked millions of times by thousands of students every day go something like this, "Why am I learning this? Does it even apply to my life? Will this knowledge make me happy?" And the teachers have answers to two of those questions. Yes, this knowledge will apply to your life, and that is the reason you are learning it. But... Will that knowledge make you happy? The teachers don't know. But I'll bet you do. I'll bet you know if math brings you joy, and helps you feel fulfilled. I'll bet you know the same for every subject. And do you care about the subjects that don't bring you joy and help you feel fulfilled? No. Of course not. Nobody ever does anything willingly that doesn't bring them joy or help them feel fulfilled. Not at first anyways. But after years and years of uncaring teachers telling inquisitive students that they ought to stop asking those questions and to sit down and shut up, the students stop caring. They stop asking. They lose the essence of education.

I don't care what the arguments against my stand are, but I will go to my grave with the opinion that memorizing math formulas, complicated grammatical rules, and facts in a science book is not education. It's empty knowledge. Education is learning how to ask questions and find answers. I don't care if you can't count past 10 and don't know your ABCs. If you know how to question everything, even to the very existence of God, and have learned how to honestly seek answers, I will place you as more educated in my book than almost any college professor and any world leader, and I believe God will too. Why? Because you are not a full bowl of empty facts. You are not a robot. You are an honest seeker of truth, and that is why you are so brilliant. Because you're connected to your education. You actually care about what you are learning. And so what if all you want to do is study science? Does science interest you? Good. Soon enough you're going to need to learn how to read to continue your study of science. Not long after that you're going to need to know a little bit of math. See, knowledge cannot be split into the categories of math and science and literature and still have meaning. Because they are connected. They need each other to live. Without any one of them, they all would fall apart, or lose purpose.

There is more though to this education crisis than just the fact that students are learning empty knowledge. They are losing, or have already lost connection with their mentors, their teachers. 

Have you ever learned something from someone you really admire, or care about? Do you remember what they said? Do you remember how they said it? Chances are, you do.

Now think back to your last class with a teacher that had no interest in you whatsoever. Do you remember what they said? Did you even care? Probably not.

America is missing the one room school houses. They are missing the connection that comes when a small group of like minded people come together in order to advance their education. In mass education, there will never be connection. Only mindless learning. And you can't really blame the teachers. Some of them probably would get to know each and every one of their students, and form a deep connection with them. But they can't. It's physically impossible. There are too many of them.

Isn't it sad?

Don't you wish that you could feel this connection in your education?

I do.

And I had it for a while.

But then things changed. The school I go to got bigger, more people came, and the connection was lost. Not to say that my mentors don't still care, but they don't have time for me. Or most anyone else. Not real time. Maybe a bit here and there. 

And the connection wasn't just lost between the mentors and the students. It was lost among the students as well. My first year was amazing. Everybody cared about each other. And even though we didn't all know each other, it didn't matter. We were Burgers, therefore we were friends. Then clicks and groups started forming as the school size grew. Not that this is a bad thing, it's necessary as the size of a school grows, but it further killed the connection the students had. 

Now, please understand that this isn't a post bashing on my school. No. That's not the purpose. It's just an example of what I'm trying to say.

So please, if you don't have one, get yourself an education. Stop learning for a little while and start thinking. Start asking. Because that's how you're going to become truly educated.

May God be with you.

-Dallin