Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Education

Lately, I have been thinking about my life and the things I would like to accomplish in it. Recently, I have been getting into photography. I have a great camera and great editing programs and have been having a lot of fun practicing taking pictures. Eventually, I would like to have a small business as a way of contributing financially to my family and also as a way of keeping up a hobby that I love. One accomplishment that I lack, though, that has just been hanging over my head is the fact that I have not "officially" completed my education. I'm definitely not going to get into the "why's" or "when's" of it, but know that I do think it is important. As I have shared this insecurity of this aspect of my life to my husband, he has helped me to realize that education really is something that should continue all throughout life, with or without a degree. President Henry B. Eyring spoke at a CES Fireside back in May, 2001 about education and one quote I love from his talk is...

"No service that matters can be given over a lifetime by those who stop learning. A great teacher is always studying. A nurse never stops facing the challenge of dealing with something new, be it equipment or procedure. And the workplace in every industry is changing so rapidly that what we know today will not be enough for tomorrow. Our education must never stop. If it ends at the door of the classroom on graduation day, we will fail." - President Henry B. Eyring, "Education for Real Life".


So, with that, I have decided to set a goal that pushes me to further my "informal" education (beyond my photography) for the New Year that is coming way too quickly...

Kelly's Education Goal: Over the year of 2010, I am going to study a different topic for every month. I will read, write, experiment, or do whatever necessary to learn about that subject. At the end of the month, for Family Home Evening, I will teach Nate what I learned about that topic.

I am actually really excited about this goal. And the reason I am not going to start until the new year is because I am going to learn about "goal setting" during the month of December so I can prep for my New Year's goal. My only problem is that I am having trouble thinking of topics to study/learn about. I have thought about memorizing the Periodic Table of Elements, learning to sew, cooking tricks, music theory (piano), learn as much as I can about a certain disease...

So, IF YOU WERE DOING THIS GOAL, WHAT TOPICS WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO LEARN ABOUT? I am completely open to suggestions since I am really struggling to choose topics of my own. It can be about anything. It can be something you would learn in school, something spiritual, something you've wanted to learn/know about "just because".

Anyway, I would LOVE your input and ideas! Wish me luck!

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Sign Language (re-learn)

Guitar

Knit

Take a cooking class

Calligraphy

Volunteer at animal shelter

Unknown said...

Great idea, by the way

Shamaine said...

Love it...what a good idea! I'm afraid I'm not that ambitious yet...I'm still trying to figure out how to get more energy to take care of Hayden. haha :) I also love your picture at the top! You're SO pretty! I would like to learn more about: the New Testament, Photoshop, cooking, I'll have to think about this a little.

Jeff and Kira said...

Guitar, Spanish, cake decorating, sewing, I can't think of any others right now, but that's an awesome idea! Good luck!

Camille said...

What about cake decorating or pastries, or candy making...I will say my suggestions are selfish because I'm hoping I may reep the rewards from you learning these

Michael said...

Three words Kelly, World War Two. I love learning about it and I love movies made about it. I really should learn more about World War One as well. I would also like to learn how to crochet and learn about pyrotechnics.

Nibarger said...

origami. my husband did a project about it for a class and the history of it and the cultural aspects of it are really neat, not to mention actually learning how to fold really cool things out of paper!

Candace said...

Kelly, I think this is a spectacular goal. One thing I find I can always learn more about is parenting (I've got a dozen books on various parenting topics.) Spanish is on my list, home construction/maintenance, and car engines/care are the other topics I'm most interested in studying. You'll have to keep sharing what you learn and inspire us all to keep learning too. :D

Dale, Julie, Jaxon, Britta, and Max said...

how about changing a tire ~ just kidding : ) Even though I've thought of this for a day I can still only come up with sewing and cooking. Goes to show how I great I would be with your goal!

Michael said...

What are all these people thinking when they say you should learn the guitar, Spanish, or even cake decorating in a span of one month? Your friends must be geniuses. I thought that my idea of studying WWII can't even be done in one month, but at least you could learn about a few things. You are still asking for monthly studying goals not life time goals right? If only I could learn a language in one month. I would know every language on earth by now.

Brooke said...

oh gosh, this is hard to narrow it down, but kelly, memorize the periodic table, bluk! okay-kidding. you can do whatever you want. how about spending a month finding recipes that would work in your food storage. does that count as learning?
by the way-i'm also going to eventually start a photog business. you've got to let me practice on your cute family.

Tasha said...

I absolutely love this post- even though i have got my "formal education" I still want to educate myself. Quarterly I work on certain goals for instance: learning more about Joseph Smith, crocheting blankets for the homeless, learning to cook AMAZING meals, geneology, getting better at temple attendance & studying the temple signs, scrapbooking (another form of geneology for your family), health science (getting on a work out program & learning about nutrition), budgeting, etc. Those are just to name a few. =) I do this all the time- because i feel it helps us stay-at-home mamas to have a confident self esteem & to be "women" not just "mama's! Because both are important!! PS_ love your profile picture super pretty!

Bek said...

hi baby sister kelly. i love that you are focused on learning and progressing. that's awesome.

for christmas, i asked for the rosetta stone in farsi so i could have a better understanding of the language. if you try to learn a new language i recommend getting the rosetta stone or taking a class where you can practice speaking with other people.

also, one of my best friends stopped her education in order to begin a family. she always says that it's just going to take her longer to get her college diploma. i love her attitude--it doesn't matter if you take a break now, you can always go back and accomplish your educational goals in the future.

anyway, you're awesome and i think you're going to accomplish all your goals in life, no matter how big/small.