"Through first-class education, a generation marches down the long uncertain road of the future with confidence."
Wynton Marsalis
"I study myself more than any other subject. That is my metaphysics, that is my physics."
Michel de Montaigne
"People need to be made more aware of the need to work at learning how to live because life is so quick and sometimes it goes away too quickly."
Andy Warhol
"If a man neglects education, he walks lame to the end of his life."
Plato
I'm very glad that i had the opportunity to go through and finish college. With this being said it was a bumpy ride along the way and i actually do not like the corruption and bullshit politics that are hidden within the educational system. My experience is not the ideal or optimal experience but it was a good experience because most of the things that were useful to me i learned inadvertently. All in all i have no regrets. In my opinion if your going to go to college don't go out of desperation go because you have a purpose. Try and find your reason for living and learn how to do it better. Thats the true meaning of going to school that no academic advisor will tell you. Also don't follow the rules because they are slanted and for profit for most of theses organizations. Find out how to use college to live your life better there's no rulebook for that.
I'm currently on Sabbatical from the academic world at the moment. But im constantly trying to find ways to keep my mind stimulated and learn about stuff without worrying about things that i feel are arbitrary like GPA's and grades. I feel sometimes those things seriously get in the way of the educational process and encourages more people to try and cheat instead of learn.
Some of the things that im studying on my own are:
Personal Finance/ Risk Management/ Investment Theory:
In my childhood/teenage years i hated money. I grew up in a society that was and still is very money obsessed. I was raised in an environment where having and spending money determined your opportunity. I didn't grow up with a fundamental understanding of money and didn't really have much of it when i was growing up. Most of the money i came across i had to earn for myself and worked for it to get things done, but it got to a point sometime in college where my perception of money prevented me from going as far as i could academically. Put against this barrier i went into a money oriented major (Economics) to conquer my fear of the money dilemma. I feel this change was a fundamental point because i learned how money works and how useless it is compared to things that are much more important in life like people, respect and purpose. After graduating i study finance on my own because finance is the study of managing risks, conquering fears, and forging opportunities. Money is just a small part of this vast and dynamic subject.
Psychology/ Cognitive Science / Relationship Theory
If i could choose another undergrad major in college i would probably choose psychology. I think the science of the mind is fascinating and healthy for people who want to master their understanding of perception. I like psychology because i believe that in learning how to strengthen and train your cognitive skills that you can cure yourself easily of boredom and unhappiness. You can also try to get into the meanings of why people do the things that they do. I also feel that most people end up in unhappy relationships because they fail to pay attention to the details of human perception.
Philosophy/ Logic / Reason
I used to have a huge beef with philosophy majors. One of my best friends went to school for philosophy and he use to talk peoples ear off and really wear them down sometimes with talking endlessly about philosophical ideas. At the time i didn't understand what you could do with philosophy as a career so i looked at its study as kind of useless. But when i got older i had an urge to read more and found out the reason why philosophy is probably one of the most important majors you can study. It helps you look at things objectively which is a great skill in dealing with just about anything. Philosophy teaches you how to study things. Without it you can possibly be doomed in being aimless for a long time.
Cooking/ Nutrition / Health
A skill that i am really proud of picking up is cooking. I really like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and hone my culinary skills in making cheap, good, tasting healthy food. I do a lot of research on the food i cook because its hard to just trust anything nowadays plus its fun to experiment. Cooking has given me a strong sense of independence because when i eat the things i make i feel like I'm creating a flavor instead of just consuming food for consumption sake. I look forward to the day when more people can try my cooking.
Music/ Management / Music Business
Music is something that i real love doing whether its performing, listening, or bringing people together in a social/intellectual environment. After studying music theory for a little while i currently feel that the best way to learn to love music is to just involve yourself in it empirically. Thinking to much about music can most often kill the experience sometimes. I believe that music may be one of the key things thats has made me a better listener and a more sensitive person. I believe music is the ultimate social networking tool and i plan to use it as such. Music makes my life timeless.
Whether your in school or not i really encourage people to try and educate themselves and to be more independent thinkers. Whatever you do have a purpose in doing it.
