What is an education? Now, this is an enormous topic, isn’t it? Right? You think back to your own experience of school, perhaps university, what was that like for each of us? Right?
I remember that when I went to school, there was no kindergarten. There was just grade 1, and it was truly a very traumatic experience. We had a teacher that I’m sure has long left this earth. Her name was missus Clark. And in school, it was kind of like prison in a bizarre way, if you know what I mean.
Firstly, you arrived. No one spoke. There was no chatter. Maybe in the schoolyard at recess, there was chatter, but not in the classroom. And there was this enormous woman.
Of course, she wasn’t that enormous, but I’m 6 years old. So to me, she appeared to be very, very large. So it began. We went to our desks and we were instructed that from now on, when we arrived at school at whatever it was, 7 o’clock, we were going to wait for the bell to start. And once the bell began, we were to stand up and we would sing God Save the Queen.
We had a queen at that time and then there would be prayers. Now, some of the people perhaps that weren’t Christian exited the classroom at that time during the prayer, then they came back, and then we had our nails class began. The class began. And, you know, I like school. It was kind of a nice experience but I was the kind of child.
I think I probably, to be honest, had ADHD. But during those years, there was no such thing as ADHD. It hadn’t been invented yet so they had an ADHD cure which was a stick, a rod and they would whack you if you got out of line. So you’re making a fuss in the back. And if the ADHD continued, well, the WACC continued.
So very quickly, you learn to get into shape, so to speak. And I just thrived in this environment. I was a type of human being who needed discipline. We had discipline at home and I guess we’re gonna have discipline in school. So grade 1, grade 2, grade 3.
In grade 3, I fell in love. Her name was miss Clegg. She was our grade 3 teacher. And I remember walking into the classroom and it was a bright sunny day and the sun was streaming through the window and her hair was golden. Honest to god, she was like Helen of Troy.
Right? Magical person. Magical. And I could barely talk. I was so in love with this teacher.
In fact, one time, my parents invited her to come to the lake with us. I think she was maybe 20 years old. Isolated village. Right? So she came to the lake with us and my father asked me, Leon, you’re not talking.
Why? Well, how can a man talk? I thought to myself when you’re in love. I mean, what can you possibly say? So then, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6, I thrived in Roman and Persian history, grade 7, and I was going to be the smartest person in the class and I was going to receive in the school rather, I was going to receive an award.
I was told this and at the last moment, half an hour before the ceremony was going to give me the award. They told me, oops, Leon. Sorry. We made a mistake. It’s not you.
It’s another lady. And I was just shocked. I remember it’s like my whole world collapsed, literally. So then we came to grade 8. Now in grade 8, it was kind of an interesting experience because the school system in British Columbia at the time was failing.
Kids were quitting school because the money in the logging, the fishing, mining, farming industries was enormous. You could literally work and buy a house in a year and a half, 2 years. Totally unskilled labor, just your muscles. Why stay in school? So the school seers, in their wisdom, decided that they were going to totally liberalize the school system.
So we no longer called mister Smith mister Smith. We called him Jim or Bob or Bill or what have we. And immediately, you can imagine if you were suddenly respecting people, now you no longer have to call them by their proper name. Well, our respect declined exponentially very quickly. Right?
And then it went on. Grade 8, grade 9, grade 10, grade 11, and it just labored just labored. Then they introduced smoking in school of all things. Yes. It’s true.
We could actually smoke outside. There was a smoking pit next to the running area, so to speak, and it was just incredible. I think now, wow, we could smoke and we used to rub the ash into our jeans to make us look even more cool. And I, for sure, like I said earlier, I would have failed but then I took theater. I was inducted into the theater club but we were very successful and the French club.
So I graduated. I finished school and I arrived on the other side and I’ve spoken about that before. Graduated, didn’t know what to do and I went to work. But I think back now, education today, because I teach a lot of people today, education today is totally different. But in a way, it promulgates the same sort of myth to young people.
Work hard, finish your studies, and then you will get a good job, but you won’t. That’s a lie in fact. 50% of young people today that graduate from university in North America and in Asia for that matter, if they get a job at all, are underemployed. And they’re really bitter and they’re angry and they just don’t understand. And it takes some time to finally grasp that who is my teacher?
Myself. Myself. I’m responsible for me, my attitudes in the world, and what I want out of my piece of life. And there are certain givens, of course. I am a man.
I am 67 years old. I have 2 children. I have a certain amount of money, a certain amount of intelligence, and the rest is truly up to me. Where I go with that, it’s totally up to me. And I think that’s what we must encourage young people to think now.
It’s a wonderful life and exciting, but you gotta work. You have no choice. So if an education gives you anything at all, it must give you the concept that you can train yourself to learn, to learn how to learn. If you learn how to learn, you will be free and you will live an exciting life, I believe. I say this with some personal experience.
Get to work. Get to work on you, and things will be fine. And you know what they say. You know what they say. Critical thinking is necessary and, of course, critical thinking is great. Take care. Bye bye.