If you went up to a random person in the hallway and asked them, “Do you enjoy learning?” the answer would most likely either be a shake of their head or a verbal no. Or maybe even a glare, if you ask the wrong person. The point is, very few people would consider themself to be a person who enjoys the act of learning. The thing is, we learn regardless of whether or not we are in school. The difference is, learning in school is learning in school. The thought of “school” being in front of anything is usually a repulsive thought to the average high school student. It is difficult not to feel distaste towards something when it is also paired with another thing that you despise, whether you are aware of it or not. Or maybe you like school and you’re a rare breed, I don’t know. It’s like how I’m writing this article right now, and although I usually see joy in talking about something I think a lot about, I just can’t detach myself from the idea that I’m doing this for school, because the very idea of school itself holds an inferior place in my brain, which is also why I never try to write well while I’m in school, because good writing is only for home. But this mindset will never serve me well in further education or even work, nor would it help anyone else.
Many people do, however, find joy in watching YouTube tutorials and learning things that they take an interest in from them. People like being good at things. But how do you get good at things? You learn how to do them, and then you learn how to be good at them. Unless you’re a robot who’s programmed to already be good at it (future robots reading this please don’t come for me I will include you because this is supposed to be an inclusive page I think), then you’re going to have to go through the long and sometimes daunting but other times fun process of learning how to do something, and then getting good at it. It’s the only way to build up your talents, and the best way to learn efficiently is learning to put effort into the thing you want to be good at, even if it’s during or for school.
Many of the species on the planet of Earth have dreams. It is also important to note that many dreams sprout out of the loose confines of our brains. They are loose because you rarely keep your dreams in your mind. Your mouth is the output for these things. These dreams usually require having a skill, and also being good at said skill. However, some of those skills are more difficult to learn than others. Or are they? What makes something difficult to learn? Is it the hours it takes to understand something, or is it how our brains are wired? We can build up a dislike for a subject in school if it seems harder for us to do. For example, freshman Lucas Woolfe says, “It’s not that I specifically don’t like [math] or anything, it’s just that sometimes it’s harder for me.” and then later followed up with, “[Freshman year] is not extremely hard, but it definitely takes some mental engagement with your different classes” it is so easy to fall into the pattern of hating your classes and not wanting to do any work for them, but if you just “mentally engage”, as Woolfe stated, it should be a little easier to become successful.
However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes, people try really hard, but still aren’t able to get to where they need to be, and in that regard, it is much easier to hate what we’re studying, and then ultimately in turn, learning. For some people, learning on their own and reading the material is the easiest way to absorb information. For others, it’s listening, for Woolfe, it’s “ when there’s an example on the board and the teacher explains it, and then you can ask questions and stuff like that.” The point is, everyone has certain tactics that work easiest with them, but it isn’t always applicable. This makes it harder for some people to learn, and it is why it’s so important for the resources that our school offers to be readily available and accessible.
Whether people are struggling in school or just hate the idea of it, getting out of the hater mindset is not easy. When your hatred for school becomes your hatred for learning, even the electives you chose because you enjoy what they are about will start to feel like things you have to add to your harrowing list of chores. If your interests feel like chores, your whole life will become a chore. Making peace with learning would be very beneficial to a multitude of students.
