Why is Learning Important?
By: Jordan Gross
Tags: Education, Psychology, Inspiration, Mental Health, Leadership

Why is Learning Important?

An overlooked question we rarely consider.

Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash

An odd question to pose as the basis for an article, I realize. It seems like it should be the easiest question in the world to answer. Learning gives you more knowledge, knowledge allows you to do more things, and doing more things makes you a valuable asset to the world and people around you.

Or how about this one: learning makes you smarter and smarter people succeed.

And of course, there is the notion that learning gives you the fundamental skills now in order to succeed in the future.

These are all viable candidates to answer the why is learning important question.

But recently, I was faced with a challenge. And this challenge redefined my interpretation of what it means to learn and why it’s important to do so. I made the bold decision to go back to school a few months ago. As a 26-year old writer with a Bachelor’s in economics and a Master’s in management studies, I thought it was time to gain a little more formalized knowledge in the world with which I am currently pursuing, which is the world of helping people. I will be pursuing a Master’s degree in social work and train to become a therapist come January 2021.

So, when somebody asked me why I was going back to school and what I was going back to school for the other day, I was caught off guard. I simply thought it was to continue learning so I could apply the teachings in the real world and to continue to hopefully make a difference in people’s lives.

“What do you want to do with this degree? With your life?” She inquired further. “You should know what you want to do so you can be better prepared when you get to school, and it also helps your chances of getting in if you know what you want.”

I didn’t have a good follow-up for this. I said I wanted to learn more about mental health and become a therapist and that I had an interest in homelessness. “Very different pursuits.” She told me.

When I left that conversation, I couldn’t help but question my own intentions about why I was going back to school. Why does anyone go to school? Why does anybody learn anything? This is when I realized two different interpretations, and the difference between these interpretations is why me and this woman were not on the same page during our conversation.

I think most people believe that learning is about finding out what or who you want to be. You go to school in order to understand certain subjects, and then you use those subjects in a certain field in order to make a living. In the case of getting my masters, this would mean that learning is important because I’m going to better understand the skills I learn in the field I already know I want to explore. But I don’t think this thought pattern does learning justice. I don’t believe learning is about who you wish to become.

I believe learning is about realizing who you already are.

When you learn, you are intuitively drawn to the subjects and thoughts that inspire you most. There is a gravitational force toward certain ideas that resonate with you for some particular reason. What learning does is allow you to claw and sift through all of that information that’s out there and find the bits that are most in line with the person way deep down inside of you.

Learning is a process of self-discovery from the past, not active exploration of the future. Learning is being dropped off at an excavation site with a shovel and being told to dig for fossils. It’s finding the remnants of what already makes us whole.

The reason to go back to school should not be because we already know what we want and are using the teachings to kickstart our careers. But rather, we go back to school because what we learn and what we understand best is a direct reflection of the person we always were and wished to be. You don’t learn because you crave an advantage for the future. You learn in order to better understand your past.

The most commonly asked question to school aged children is something along the lines of “What do you want to be when you grow up?” But this question implies that school is going to help them figure out what they’ll ultimately do, which is true, but not the entire story.

Children never get asked, “What do you think you already are?” which would more accurately depict that school should be a boost that drives them in the direction of who they already believe themselves to be.

One of my mentors always tells me that what you do is not who you are, but who you are should drive what you do. This is why learning is important. It’s because you learn to unearth what you already know. It’s unpacking your already full suitcase, not packing it from scratch. There’s a person inside you that has always been there whether you’re currently acting like her or not. Go learn and figure out who that person really is.