Terry Mitchell

Is There a Gap in Your Education?



Posted: Wednesday, September 09, 2009

by Terry Mitchell
http://commenterry.blogs.com

Okay, so you have two bachelor's degrees, three master's degrees, and four doctorates – and they're all in different subject areas! I bet you think you're pretty smart, huh? Well, you might want to reconsider that assumption. You could very well have a big gap in your education despite all of these degrees, and not even know it.

Here's the problem: If you've never had a major illness or injury, you can't possibly have a complete education. Oh, and stuff like the flu or a broken arm don't qualify. It had to have been something life-threatening. You and your doctor(s) had to have been uncertain as to whether you were going to make it another month, another year, or another five years.

You see, it's only at a time like that when you discover what's really important to you. Until then, you just think you know. There's something unique about being forced to throw the gears of life into survival mode. It focuses your mind like nothing else can. Up to that point, all of the knowledge you have – no matter how broad or in-depth – is just superficial.

Of course, if you are very fortunate, the "completion" of your education will be postponed until some point in the very distant future. That is something that I would wish for everyone. That shallow education we glean from the classroom and everyday life is much more gratifying – just like a cheeseburger is much more gratifying that a bowl of oatmeal.

However, some of us have already acquired that extraordinary education and will therefore never be the same again. And there are others who are currently attending classes or preparing for them to shortly begin. I'd still rather have the cheeseburger.
 
Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, amateur political analyst, and blogger from Virginia, USA. He posts a least one article a day to his blog - http://commenterry.blogs.com - on subjects such as current events, politics, technology, society and culture, religion, health and well-being, self improvement, personal finance, trivia, and sports. He is also the owner of a new privacy-enhanced search engine - http://www.SearchMost.com.

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Connor Davidson
 2 years 241 days ago.
94 fans. Follow Connor Davidson on twitter!
Great article. Well done.
 
In the first paragraphy I thought you were crazy, by the second I sort of had the idea and by the end I had it. Very clever.
» left by Terry Mitchell 2 years 241 days ago.
91 fans.
Connor, thanks for reading and commenting. I'm glad you liked it.
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