“A Happy Youth of A Sunny and Fortunate Land”

I am happy to announce that the dates for my high school equivalency test will be next Monday and Wednesday! Woo-hoo! This has been in the works for a looong time…but the day is finally here. I have been brushing up on my math and science skillz in the last couple of weeks and I’ve been having a blast. Get this: I’m loving algebra! Functions and graphs and linear equations…mmm-mm-mmm. Why oh why wasn’t learning this much fun in school? I will say this: not everyone is meant to be a teacher. In my opinion the ability to teach, to excite and to engage, is a skill that relatively few people possess. If we had a Neil DeGrasse-Tyson or a Sir Ken Robinson in every school, this world would be a very different place.

I’ve been rather self-reliant all my life. Out of necessity, I depended on myself to learn many basic things growing up. Out of the skills that I’ve taught myself, I am proudest of my singing and my guitar-playing. But there are many other day-to-day things in which a great teacher could have come in real handy, and I’m happy that I see it now. It is never too late to fill in those gaps. These days my life is rich with teachers of many sorts, and I’m becoming increasingly open to reaching out for help when I need it. I make it a point to connect to people who are willing to freely and fearlessly share their knowledge, for that is not a given. I hope that I too will be willing and able to pass on any precious nuggets that I may collect, to others in the future.

I leave you with inspiring words from a remarkable and supremely generous teacher, Albert Einstein. This excerpt is from a talk to a group of children, published in Mein Weltbild, Amsterdam: Querido Verlag, 1934. In my eagerness to learn, I feel like a little child myself, and his words speak directly to my inner innards. Enjoy.

“My Dear Children,

I rejoice to see you before me today, happy youth of a sunny and fortunate land.
Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of many generations, produced by enthusiastic effort and infinite labor in every country of the world. All this is put into your hands as inheritance in order that you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to your children. Thus do we mortals achieve immortality in the permanent things we create in common.
If you always keep that in mind you will find a meaning in life and work and acquire the right attitude toward other nations and ages.”