E

I read an article today about a female star and her take on life. The article was not a very exciting read, but, she made one statement that jumped out at me. She said, "I always took my education for granted."

For a moment, I paused and realized, so do I.

E is for Education.  Book smarts, not street smarts. Cuz if you know me, I ain't got so good street smarts. And if you have read my blog long enough, you know I could stand to take a few more Writing Classes 101 - comma and grammar lessons for the Lazy Blogger.
I was raised in a home where my education was something that was expected of me.  Studying, completing homework, and school projects had to be done.  Of course, in my situation, it was also balanced with me spending 20+ hours at gymnastics.  My Mom was privy to every project I was working on and helped me when needed. OK, she even helped me by typing part of a paper for me at 2am.  That was the night I learned that you need to SAVE periodically when typing a monster paper on a word processor.  (Yes, this was pre-computer. We did not get a computer until I was in graduate school.)

Growing up, doing well in school - not necessarily getting A's- was expected of me. No, I was NOT a perfect student, and YES I remember my first grade of a D (Mrs. Smith, 5th grade on a test of the anatomy of the ear).  I never remember being grounded for grades, I never was that "bad" student. I did what was expected of me, and Mom seemed OK with that.

I remember early on wanting to go to college, and I remember Mom urging me on. Never saying things like, "if" you get into college, or "IF we can afford it."  It was "WHEN" you get into college.  I knew my "jobs" were school and gymnastics. Mom handled the rest. Now, this is NOT to say I was some uber spoiled only child (maybe a little but not as much as I should have been).  I knew I was going to graduate high school, I knew I was going to go to college and try to compete gymnastics.

I never had that "IF" I graduate high school. Not completing high school was not an option; that thought never ever crossed my mind.

I was lucky that my Mom was able to provide for me a wonderful high school and college education. She showed me that if I was willing to work hard and do what was expected of me, she was willing to foot the bill. I was lucky to graduate without owing one single loan. Lucky for me, that whole gymnastics thing paid off in under grad with a few small scholarships, and completely free graduate school. 12 years of all that work in private gymnastics club, paid off in the form of me being able to have the degrees of BS and MS.

Somehow, I knew I was going to be an educated woman - as two very important educated women instilled that in me from day 1. My grandmother went school though 8th grade, and maybe a little high school.  My Mom finished high school, and then went onto schooling for her field.   They instilled in me that each generation was to be further educated than the previous one. So, that was my job.

Now, does this mean I expect Connor and Calista to get their MD's and PhD's? No. I understand that college is not for everyone. If  Calista comes up to me to say, "I want to work in HVAC."  More power to her. I would sit down with her and figure out what education requirements are expected for the field.  Not only would I expect her to know her HVAC stuff, I would expect her to be able to do simple math in her head, I expect her to read and comprehend what she read.  I expect her to question things she reads, research things she questions, and not to accept things at face value. I expect her to be a contributing member of society.  I expect her to be educated.

Now, if Calista walks up to me at 18 telling me she doesn't want to finish high school, and wants to run off and join the circus. We have a problem....unless she enrolls in Clown College.

I know people who are still working hard to finish their GED's, associates degree, Bachelor's degree, and Master's degree. I am inspired that even though all these people are at different points in their educational journey - they are still ON that journey, vowing to not give up on their education.   I am inspired by these friends and family members, it forces me to remember that my education is a gift.