As I sat baking in the Santa Barbara sun listening to some man speak of the importance of words I discovered one of the aspects of my “incompleteness” in Costa Rica.  I have always been a student.  I mean, I still am a student, I am learning a TON about what it is to be an effective educator…. but it is all skills based instruction.  I have spent the past 3 1/2 years in a realm of trade training AND my own educational enrichment.

What I mean to say is this: in addition to being trained for my role as a future teacher I have always been involved in learning about the other sciences and humanities.  Learning has always been my first love and suddenly I find myself only learning how to teach.  I am immensely curious about the world around me and that curiosity has been put on hold for the time being.  I haven’t listened to a professor talk about religion, literature, or history in over four months…. and I miss it.

I miss the thrill of connecting with material and delving deeper into it on my own accord, not because it is required, but because for one reason or another, I hold that subject matter dear.  While in school I had grown used to being expected to learn as much as possible about whatever it was we were covering in class…. Now I realize I have to take my education into my own hands….

I cannot begin to describe what a relief it is to understand why I was feeling stagnant.  For awhile I thought I was just being a whiner, in reality though, I was simply missing the student in me…. we are so much more than our professions, we are ever changing organisms that should strive to further our knowledge of the world around us.  Be it through books, service experiences, discussions, or anything, we need to be receptive to new information and practice applying that receptiveness to our daily lives.

All that to say I’m going to start Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis to get my feet wet with learning again.  I know I know how cliche, but I got it for free from chapel my freshman year so I figure I should read it, ya know?

Happy trails, it was such a blessing to see you all this week.  I love you all very very much and hope that this summer will be fantastic (psh hope, who am I kidding it’s going to be stellar!)

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