This last week I crossed a major goal off my ROW80 list. I
finished my degree. I am now Hospitality Management graduate, with a 4.0 g .p.a. to boot. It’s such a relief to have that under my belt,
but it also made me think.
Thinking about our characters and their education, could
their level of education have an impact? Yes, it could.
We gain more than just knowledge on a certain subject from
our education. In our early education, we learn the basics reading, writing,
and arithmetic. We join clubs or get involved in sports or music programs. All
those things shape who we are from elementary school through higher education.
Right now, I’m working on a historic western. Ben was a
cattleman before he became a Civil War officer. He didn’t have a formal
education so how did he learn to read and write. How far did his education go?
Did learning really impact his life for the better or not make much difference
at all?
Education is something we take for granted today I believe. Public
education is available to everyone now, in the days when my character lived
education was a privilege. Most often schooling was done at home when it was
available. Even then, for some education was minimal.
People could read or write but going to a university or
higher learning was out of reach. Either by their location or most often by
means of income, even in those days college was an expense. It was more common
to find a person to learn under as an apprenticeship.
Tradesmen were most often apprenticed but so were attorneys,
doctors, nurses, accountants and others. Today they couldn’t get a position
unless they had the training of a degree and internship. These men and
sometimes women learned their jobs by working with experienced mentors.
Sometimes those mentors sponsored their higher education.
Today anyone can open a book or go to a school and learn
something. There are grants and sponsorships that offer us choices that Ben and
his family don’t have in 1864. Aren’t you glad for modern times?
I certainly am, a full degree offers more opportunities to
better my life and my family’s It makes me a better writer by broadening my
base of knowledge as well. I’m thankful for my Sis Rose, for encouraging me to
jump in and do it and I’m really thankful for no more homework :D tee hee.
So my goals for this week are to hunker down harder on Ben
and his exploits in the wild west, publish 2 articles and 2 blog posts, and
finally load the car up with the boxes of clutter that have been waiting for
exile from my house and get them to the Goodwill.
How has education influenced or impacted your life? Have you
made any big accomplishments on your goal list for this quarter?
First of all, congratulations!! That's quite the accomplishment, especially with a 4.0.
ReplyDeleteI love to learn, and I have often thought about going back and getting my Masters or simply taking some more writing classes. I need to look into that. I find it exhilarating to expand what I know and what I enjoy.