What Education Needs

What the education system needs are people like these Afghan women and their fathers. They are willing to risk their LIVES for an education. They secretly take different paths everyday to get to a secret school. They hide their books in grocery sacks and pretend to be shopping because teaching women is against the law. They do all of this to learn. 

What our education system lacks is the strong desire to learn. The girls of Sola who are "grabbing at oppurtunity" are different from careless others that take the opportunity of going to school for granted. To be fair, I do too. But if we could all try a little harder to be passionate, and care enough to try, the world would be a new place. 

"Nothing great was every achieved without enthusiasm" -Emerson

If we could "simply" learn to be enthusiastic, it'd be so different. But I find that a little ironic. We have to learn enthusiasm to learn. I don't know if that makes sense, but you get the idea. I hope... Anyway, I think the lack of enthusiasm starts with not thinking we need an education. For our parents generation, no education meant no job, meaning no money, meaning no food/housing, meaning a miserable life. That doesn't seem so true for our generation. At least, we pretend it isn't.

Sometimes the issue isn't being enthusiastic, sometimes the issue is being overly-enthusiastic. Have you ever had a teacher that are so passionate and smart in their area that they can't dumb it down enough for you to learn it?

But if we could just learn to work together, the problem would be on it's way to a solution. We need teachers that gain a student's respect, and know how to teach on their level of understanding. We need students who are willing to listen, and be enthusiastic about learning new things.

So today's challenge? Learn something new, and be enthusiastic about it. 

hint- ted.com is a collaboration of genius people and their ideas and makes it really fun and interesting to learn. 

-Jannallred

Interested

If you want to be interesting, be interested.
-unknown

Till tomorrow,
-jannallred

Dr. Seuss

(*Credit given to original sources)

I love Dr. Seuss.
-jannallred

Attitude

If
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Is the same as
1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10  11  12  13  14  15 16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26

Then 
K+N+O+W+L+E+D+G+E

11+14+15+23+12+5+1+7+5=96%

And

H+A+R+D+W+O+R+K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11=96%

Both are important, but both fall just short of 100%

However,

A+T+T+I+T+U+D+E

1+20+20+9+20+21+4+2=100%

(source: http://imgfave.com)

Just something to think about.
-Jannallred

Fear of the Unkown

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself" -Franklin D. Roosevelt

The only thing we are ever afraid of is what we don't know.

But really, think about it. Why do kidnappers scare you? Because you don't know if/when they're going to come, and what they're going to do. Why does performing scare you? Because you don't know if you're going to butcher it. Why does talking to people scare shy people? Because they don't know what they other person is thinking. I could go on, but...I think you've got the idea.

So take a leap of faith, even if you don't know where you're going to land.

-Jannallred

YOLO

Obviously. Hah! :D

-jannallred

No Fear?

"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow." 
-Mary Anne Rachmacher

I love this idea already and I haven't even read through the blog. This girl on randomthoughtsbybloggerette.blogspot.com thought about doing a challenge and doing things that scared her daily. From the last post that wrapped everything up, it sounded pretty awesome, and I hope I can say the same things someday. This is just a little part of it:

"I've learned to stand up for myself and ask questions, even the hard ones. I've learned that dreams are limitless, and that the best friends are sometimes the quiet ones just waiting in the background for their opportunity to cheer you on and lift you up. Hugs heal and blogging, just like training puppies, is some of the cheapest therapy ever. I learned that saying no is not a bad thing and that taking time for yourself and doing absolutely nothing is okay!"

Then she followed it with some of her favorite pictures from her year's experiences. 

When I read this, one of my first reactions was to show it to my older brother who would eat it up. But then I thought better of it... I don't think he needs ANY encouraging to do something crazy. We're talking the kid that bought a "one-way-ticket" to China for a few months (not weeks, months), and couch-surfed on a random guy's couch until he could get an apartment. 

Also the same person that is co-founding a business called grasswire.com and is taking off to San Fransisco this summer to get that going. That doesn't sound so crazy until I tell you he's going there to live in a car. Yes, my friends, a car. San Fran's renting fees aren't as nice as little Utah's, and "Why pay the expense when you could just live in a car, shower at the gym, and do your laundry at a laundromat?" I know, it sounds illogical to me too. 

So obviously, Austy-Poo (my personal nickname for him) is a master at this concept. A wise master in a stupid way. 

Similar to the first idea, I saw a quote/question that said:
"What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?"

Be Like This Flower! :)

It's a crazy thought. I'd go after all my long-stretched dreams: Travel the world doing something meaningful, be a good teacher, have a family, etc.

In a way, it's kind of the same thing.

But can't we always succeed at our dreams? Is there ever a time where it is literally impossible to succeed at something? I think as long as we're willing to be dedicated and work hard enough for our dreams, we'll reach them. But could this question have a catch like, "You won't fail, but you'll have to work killer hard to get it"? I guess it depends on how you look at it. 

Today/Tomorrow's Challenge:
 Try something you would only do if you knew you couldn't fail. 


Challenge accepted.

-Jannallred