blog 2

Education is a major factor in everybody’s life. We all need it, and we depend on it to get the things that we want in the future. But does education make us happy? Or do we think of education more as a form of torture? Over all, I have mixed feelings about education in general. I think that while I was growing up, I never looked at school as a privilege, but more of a place you go to just to make friends and waste time. On the other hand, I had some great teachers that really kept me focused on what I needed to do. Being a freshman in college is a different story because I have to look out after myself and I won’t have those teachers to motivate me. I have to be self motivated and keep myself focused on the things that I need to get done.
    Although I am confused about education and the feelings I have towards it, I know that it will take me somewhere eventually. I think that the reason I was never really motivated in school was because I rarely experienced “flow.” This is where we experience something and enjoy every second of it. “Because many students experience either boredom or anxiety in school, they neither enjoy it nor perform at their best.” (88 Happiness in Education) This explains why students either get so stressed out and just quit, or get so bored and don’t even want to bother with their education in the future. In my case I pulled through to go on to college and pursue my dreams of working with animals by helping them.
    In order to get to that place where I can start a career, I need to get all the education that I need in order to succeed. But our future is never promised, according to Ken Robinson, there is an “unpredictability for the future.” So we could just be getting an education for the future for no entire reason. He also expresses how education takes away from our creativity, by schools only focusing on the “most useful subjects,” such as Math, English  and Science. Schools barely focus on the arts and the creative parts on the brain, which can overwhelm students because they are always put under stress and barley have any “flow” moments.
    My problem is just finding ways to experience “flow” while working on homework or being in class. I need to find out what makes me happy or what are the things that draw my attention while learning. I know that I like to be hands on and get into things. I enjoy reading because I think that you could learn a lot about the world by just paying attention to another persons insight and perspectives. I also like putting things together and having “aha” moments when I am satisfied with what I come up with. But it’s really difficult to find happiness in education because most of us have bad experiences and view it as a form of torture. When in reality it’s a privilege and will help benefit us in the future.