| Sunny Side Up June 25, 2003 � 2003, Kathleen Gibson Light a fire with that sheepskin I was born with a question mark permanently installed in my soul. That curiosity set me up for a lifelong love of learning. I've loved education since the day I was taught that certain black marks on a page could talk, make music, inspire thought. My parents' high school graduation present to me was a trip to Europe. Going, however, meant I'd miss the ceremony. I knew about graduation. Europe made me curious. Europe won. My mother attended my graduation instead. I didn't miss my college grad though, and Mom traveled four provinces to get to that one. She and Dad clapped furiously as I walked across the platform and picked up my degree. (I think they clapped so hard because they felt they'd gotten the ultimate return on their investment-a good husband for their daughter.) What does education guarantee? What good is learning, especially if it's of no practical use? I know a man who graduated with a Master's degree from one of Canada's finest universities. Today he flips burgers for MacDonalds. He tells me he's not the only Master's grad working there. Education certainly doesn't guarantee wisdom. Some of the wisest people I know never graduated from anywhere, and some of the most educated people I know have no smarts whatsoever. "Learning makes the wise wiser," said John Ray, "and the fool more foolish." And Alex Bourne cautioned, "It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated." I've noticed that the graduates of higher learning who actually learned something leave the graduation platform with a keen sense of how little they know. Those who step off that platform feeling that they've arrived should have been presented with a roll of toilet paper instead of sheepskin parchment. Toilet paper is at least of some practical use, and instead of rubbing it in others' faces, they could apply it precisely where it belongs. An anonymous sage said this: A wise man is one who finally realizes that there are some questions one can ask which may have no answers. In the years between my first graduation and now, I've received several new bits of official documentation to hang on my office wall. But the question mark in my soul has never gone away. And though I may study till I die, I know now that I don't need all the answers. That the most important things one can learn in life can't be bought with tuition fees, nor evaluated on any kind of examination. We don't stop here. Our lives echo. I've decided that any further education I take must have meaning, not only for here and now, but for eternity. My question has become not only "What can I learn that I can use?" but, "What can I learn that I can leave?" W. B. Yeats said this: Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. Congratulations, graduates. Fear God. Get wisdom. Light fires. You can respond to these words at [email protected]t |
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