Educating Yourself

It’s only now, later on in my life, that I love to learn about things. When I was at school I, like many others, didn’t want to learn. It was a chore to be there and all I wanted to do was to leave and get out into the big wide world.

If I had been privy to the joys of learning back then, I would have paid more attention and I certainly would have gone to university. I stayed on for a year in the sixth form, where I buckled down a bit more and, in the end, I left with 3 O levels and a couple of CSEs.

I started work when I was 18, and I had a few jobs where I had to do loads of training courses to learn how to do certain tasks, but, still, it wasn’t because I wanted to do them. I had no choice.

In 1994, I started an Open University degree. It was an Open degree, so I could choose any courses I wanted to make up the 300 or 360 points I needed in order to obtain the full degree. I chose to do science and biology, brain, and behaviour, because that’s the sort of thing I was interested in. I passed, but only just. After that, my life got in the way, so to speak. I met someone new and started a new job. There was no time to study. I guess this is one of my regrets in life, that I didn’t continue.

However, after moving to Thailand, I decided to pick up where I left off. So, in 2010, I started a psychology course which I passed with distinction. I was so thrilled with this result, it spurred me on and I continued with my studies and did courses in philosophy, grammar, and myth in the Greek and Roman worlds. 3 years later, I finally achieved a Bachelor of Science, with honours no less. I was as proud as punch when I went to the degree ceremony, with my mum, to receive my award.

I realised that studying later on in life, for me, was a good thing. I achieved much better results than I ever did all those years ago. I even did two courses at the same time and I could easily sit down all day and study. It was hard work and, sometimes, I would be tearing my hair out because I didn’t understand something, but I loved every minute of every course. As a mature student, I found that studying was such a pleasure.

When I had finished with my degree, I was so lost without it. I didn’t know what to do with myself. So, I continued to learn. I taught myself to speak and write Thai and I learned a little Hindi. I have to say I am nowhere near fluent, but I am still learning today, albeit sporadically. I’ve got a long way to go yet though. I read books and if there is a word or concept I am unsure of I will research it. I learn about places or people I don’t know about and I’ve completed a few English language courses to give me more ideas and understanding to help me in my job.

There are many things that you can learn about, and I find I don’t have enough time to learn everything, but it’s something I will continue to do and make it my goal to learn something new every day.

Do you enjoy learning?