Love of Learning

Love of Learning

Advice to My Sister

Recently I was sent to the store to retrieve the parts needed to fix a tractor. My little brother decided to come with me on this adventure, assuming that I would stop and buy him an ice cream cone. Driving to the store, my brother in the back seat talked almost constantly about things he had learned in school, activities he had done during the summer, and stories about my siblings. One moment he piped up randomly saying “Kyanna, did you know that you are more likely to be struck by lightning than you are to be killed by shark?”

“No Bud, how do you know that?”

“I read it in a book!”

We proceeded to the store, picked up the part, made a stop at Dairy Queen (which in case you were wondering isn’t open at 9:30 in the morning), stopped at McDonalds (which is open at 9:30 in the morning) then delivered the part to my older brother at the dairy.

So here’s my random question for you: who is the MVP of this little excursion?

Is it the truck parts store that was speedy quick getting us the part we needed?

Was it the u-turn I made in the empty Dairy Queen parking lot?

Certainly it had to have been McDonald’s where a little 9-year old was finally able to eat an ice cream cone for breakfast that morning, right?

No, actually I think that real MVP of this experience was a young boy buckled into the back seat of my parents’ car telling me about what he had learned. The MVP was a kid who had a love of learning.

When do we lose that? Have you ever wondered where we suddenly stop wanting to learn and become more interested in passing a class, receiving a grade, or simply just making it through an experience? When did we lose our bright-eyed, bushy-tailed excitement to go to school, open a new book, or complete a new task?

And when can we get it back?

Being excited to learn may not always be the coolest thing to do. It won’t be popular and it won’t be easy all the time. It will require you to move off your couch or log off  Netflix for a while. It may require you to put in effort and it may require you to leave your comfort zone. But I promise that it will be worth it.

It will open your eyes.

It will crush stereotypes.

It will connect you to strangers.

It will help you develop skills.

It will allow you to be a more well-rounded person.

It will change your life.

Don’t ever lose your love of learning. Ever.