For as long as I can remember, I have loathed going to school. Despite this ever-present feeling, I have no doubt that I am privileged to be able to pursue further education. Coming from a household with two teachers as parents, the importance of education has always been instilled in me. The funny thing is, while being "anti-school," I love to learn.
I carry the quiet burden of hating school but loving to learn.
When it comes to topics that I find interesting, trust me, I will dive deep into learning the ins and outs. Even topics I've already encountered or studied in school are so much more interesting when I do my own research and can explore the subject in my own way.
Curious whether others felt the same way, I came across the Jenkins Curve. Education consultant Lee Jenkins created the underlying graph after asking 3,000 teachers what grade they taught and what percentage of their students loved school. John Hattie later named it the Jenkins Curve. Teachers estimated that 95 percent of kindergarten students loved school, with the figure declining across later grades before reaching its lowest point around ninth grade. Because these were teachers' estimates rather than students' own responses, the curve suggests a broad pattern rather than proving that school itself causes curiosity to fade. Even so, it gave a name to the tension I had felt between enjoying learning and disliking school.
Reflecting now, as my second year of college comes to a close, I feel that I reached a learning plateau in high school. Now, having the freedom to choose which subjects I study has reignited a curiosity that I had lost.
I love to learn. Filling my brain with information, articulating ideas I care about, and studying subjects that are not force-fed to me in class are what I truly enjoy. While this is the ideal situation, we also need to learn about things we don't find "interesting." Doing so helps us understand discipline and effort in education, while also allowing us to better appreciate the topics we are passionate about.
In this world, much is temporary. Wealth can fade. Looks change. Youth passes. What we learn can stay with us.
Ultimately, learning is the strongest form of armor we can carry.