This archive report was first published on 17 August 2019.
As I sat with a troubled young man who had just completed his first year at a world-renowned university, I couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment. He had come to me expecting a sympathetic ear, but what he got was a dose of reality.
He had paid top dollar for a subpar education, with crowded lectures, aloof professors, and opaque grading. The cost of living in one of the world's major capital cities was a burden he couldn't shake. I commiserated with him, but my sympathy was short-lived.
For the next hour, I opened his eyes to the real game before him. Education, I told him, happens in your own head, not in lecture halls. You educate yourself, not the other way around. Institutions can provide opportunities and resources, but they will not deliver your education to you.
My young friend was right to rail against the lack of value for money, but he was also mistaken in his assumption that education was something that could be bought and sold. Modern education is a money and status game, masquerading as a noble cause. Elite institutions attract rich students by creating exclusivity, offering their reputations as a ticket to ride.
But education is not just about getting a piece of paper or a stamp on your resume. It's about taking charge of your own learning, being curious, open to inquiry, and questioning deeply. It's about seeking out the wisdom of the past and becoming one of the giants who have already walked this earth.
True education comes from close observation of life, interaction with its intricacies, and the capacity to reflect and think for oneself. It happens over the whole of your life, not just in your years of 'study'. It's a frame of mind, not a gown you wear.
So, how do you know if you've received a proper education? If you can answer the question of where and when you were educated quickly, easily, and specifically, then I'm afraid you've missed out.
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