There's Value to Be Found in Our Work

I understand the sentiment that many of the things we learn in school are useless. When it’s 11 p.m., and I can’t quite figure out how light works, or I can’t get the cross product on something quite right, it’s easy to feel like the hours of work I put into learning the assorted variety of information I am taught only serves to get me my high school diploma, rather than to teach me anything I will actually carry with me for the remainder of my life time. After all, I’ve made it this far without being able to translate Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” or fully understanding how mirrors work. Why does any of the information I am taught in school matter? There may not be a practical use in the future for all of the knowledge I gain in the course of my classes. It’s highly unlikely that I will ever have to recall the finer details of kinematics in the future. The skills that I learn while completing my course work and studying these ideas, however, such as critical analysis and problem solving, will undoubtedly prove to be invaluable as I navigate the rest of my life.

I agree that not all of the cold, hard knowledge we study here is guaranteed to have an application in the future. However, it’s not really the cold hard knowledge that matters. The finer details of American history, for example, is unlikely to resurface in the lives of those who don’t go on to specialize in some field that relates to American history. Nevertheless, in the study and discussion of history students gain the ability to carry discourse, to articulate themselves well, to critically analyze past events and figures and to make connections between the past and present. All of these skills will serve us well in the future. Regardless of what field we enter and no matter where we end up, the actual facts of the history may not matter but the skills gained in their study will.

As cliché as it may be, education can often be about the journey, not the destination.

This principle applies to any and all of the topics we cover in school. The study of an individual topic is not necessarily the only way to gain whatever skills gained in said study. For example, problem solving can be learned outside of doing math problems. Regardless of what language you study, in studying an unfamiliar language one can learn how to think differently and to examine language closely. Nevertheless, the topics that we study in school are carefully selected as time after time they have proven to be effective in helping students grow as thinkers and members of productive society. As cliché as it may be, education can often be about the journey, not the destination. I have long since forgotten the vast majority of information that I had learned in biology class last year, but the skills I gained while learning said information are still with me.

A lot of the information that we learn in school will likely have no practical usage later on in life. That’s fine. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any value in pursuing said knowledge. As we trudge on through piles and piles of work day after day, it’s important to remember that there’s value in our school work despite how we may feel. There is always something to be learned or some skill to be gained. Studying a variety of fields broadens our horizons, encourages creativity, forces us to think from different perspectives and approaches and helps us grow as people. Regardless of how we may feel at times, dedicating our time to school work is not just a means to get to graduation but rather a way for us to grow as people.