my parents, due to poverty and the war, never went to high school. in fact, my mother didn't finish grade four and my father didn't finish grade six. but they were far from illiterate. they could write and they could read. they were voracious readers; and whatever they have learned from reading, they imparted the knowledge to us their children.
they inculcated in us the value of education; that simply going to school didn't make one educated; that education, knowledge opens a multitude of possibilities. and we could make it our ticket to get out of poverty.
how right they were. we have relatives who were totally dependent on our rich relatives for their schooling, complete with uniforms, books, shoes, and their extra curricular activities were paid for. we watched in the sidelines, and sometimes with envy that they were poorer than my parents and yet they were completely outfitted to become educated. however, none of them had accomplished what my brothers and sisters and i accomplished in school, from elementary to university, or even in real life. the one or two cousins who finished college never reached their potential, career or otherwise. and yet, we were all on our own. my older brother and i passed off on our desire to be what we wanted based on our skills and talent, so we could take short courses and be able to work immediately. then whilst working, we took night classes and sent our younger siblings to school until they finished.
we are not rich by any means, but whatever we have we worked hard for them and we earned them sans help from anyone. if we owe our small success to anyone, it is to those teachers who encouraged us and the few friends who believed in us, but mostly to our parents who gave their wisdom to us their children. and to them i am eternally grateful!
-o0o-
for my get-pushed challenge, i was challenged to "represent a life lesson that you have learned and would like for others to learn from your experience".
@summerfield Snicker snicker. Kaaatttttyyyy! Come and get some education over here! hahahaha I could maybe study up on some French verbs for my trip to Paris. I loved your story....our principal/headmaster gets on our school announcements on closed circuit Tv and gives advice and pep talks to the children.One thing he says, that I agree with and repeat, is that education is like the apple on the tree. You have to actively REACH out and get it. When I am feeling like my kids are not trying very hard, I use this analogy of the apple. I tell them I feel like I have to climb and pick the apple, peel it, make apple sauce out of it, and spoon feed it to them. haha They can be a bit hard to motivate these days with the video games, TV, movies, and so many extra activities at school and home
inculcated?! who says that?! obviously a writer! You must be some kind of genius! ;~} wonderfully inspirational story! They all look interesting but the origin of everyday things catches my eye the most! You need to send the French verbs to @espyetta so she can survive in Paris at Christmas
I always told the boys there were two things they could invest in that would always pay them back. Real estate and education. I wish I could be a full-time student. I love to learn. I guess in a sense I am- because I never stop looking things up or reading about things that pique my interest. I guess in that respect we are two peas in a pod! And I have also used the word inculcated in both written form and conversation! Good shot to depict your thoughts.
Since I devoted my life to education, you can imagine how much I loved this posting! Your commentary was moving and powerful, and the image is terrific. An interesting combination of texts too -- did you choose those for the titles or for other reasons?
I'm with Taffy and Ann @taffy@olivetreeann on this one. Being an educator for most of my life, these are the values I've tried to instil into my son and those that I teach. Thank you for sharing your story, it is inspiring and a fabulous image to go with it.
Woderful and poignant capture. I loved reading your narrative. I believe thay a person can be rich despite having very little money. One should always be learning and what better medium to use than books! A fabulous shot!
superb capture and narrative, I longed for a home in the street where we now live, purely because it is next to a super public library. I love my Kindle and adore real books.
@summerfield So wonderful! I agree with your values 110%. You so completed the challenge. Awesome representation! Thank you for such an inspiring shot!
@olivetreeann - i love being in school, too. life is a continuous learning but i love it when there's a test and i ace it! :-) thank you, ann.
@espyetta - you be careful with your french, MB. and no matter what happens, don't just say "voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir!" to anyone. hahahaha!
@taffy - thank you, taffy. i love any book where i can get information, doesn't matter what the subject is. well, except mathematics and computer manuals, they're my sure fire sleep-well meds. i just pulled the books that were handy. i will be re-reading them now that they're on the table.
@espyetta I find your comment really interesting MaryBeth. I have watched the motivation of pupils diminish over the years and couldn't understand where the hunger to learn was gone. Then I realised my hunger came from the way I could see the opportunities education offered mr. It was an urge to do better. I see it today when I look at schools in Africa. Where has our children's hunger gone?
@ceilidh I think that a huge problem is that children today have TOO much attention pics to them and I do not just mean in a good way. They are over scheduled on sports, scouts, music lessons, play dates, dance, tutoring, and going to sports and drama of their siblings which makes their families and them too busy. Then their free
Time is spent having input go in from TV and DVDs and video games. So they find it very hard to concentrate. There are some families in which education is not treated as the precious pearl that it is. Things like that make all this lack of motivation
November 28th, 2014
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@kwind - thank you, kim.
@sarasdadandmom - thank you, terry.
@grammyn - thank you, katy. i'll let you read the book, if you want to read it! :-)
@susanalena - thank you, susan.
@olivetreeann - i love being in school, too. life is a continuous learning but i love it when there's a test and i ace it! :-) thank you, ann.
@espyetta - you be careful with your french, MB. and no matter what happens, don't just say "voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir!" to anyone. hahahaha!
@taffy - thank you, taffy. i love any book where i can get information, doesn't matter what the subject is. well, except mathematics and computer manuals, they're my sure fire sleep-well meds. i just pulled the books that were handy. i will be re-reading them now that they're on the table.
@dibzgreasley - thank you, debs. much appreciated.
@salza - true! thank you, sally.
@barneyone - thank you, rita. i have a kindle but i'm not crazy about it. i prefer the smell and feel of paper.
@ruthmouch - thank you, ruth.
@grammyn - hahahaha!
@altadc - if it wasn't too heavy i'd mail it to you (after katy has read it, of course!). thank you, alta.
Time is spent having input go in from TV and DVDs and video games. So they find it very hard to concentrate. There are some families in which education is not treated as the precious pearl that it is. Things like that make all this lack of motivation