So I’m a college graduate now.
…
It’s still weird saying that, even now that the graduation ceremony is done and over with. I suppose I just don’t feel like an actual college graduate quite yet. Sure, I have a job as a substitute now, and I’m paying for stuff and doing adult things…but I don’t feel like an adult. Not yet, at least.
I suppose that it has to do with the fact that I have always associated “adulthood” as moving on past education. When we’re younger, we look up to our parents, many of whom have probably finished their schooling at this point, and we make the assumption that being an adult means being done with school, or being done with learning. And a lot of the students I taught this past year felt the same way; many of them did not plan to go to college, and believed that after graduating high school they were done with their learning.
But that’s impossible.
Why? Well, for one thing, I think it’s impossible for one to ever completely stop learning. Whether it’s learning how to pay taxes, or learning a different language, or a different task for work, or even just how to use some new-fangled technology, we are always learning. It’s part of what makes us human; we never stop learning, and we never stop progressing. And so my entire concept of “adulthood” is really an impossible goal to achieve; so long as I associate “adulthood” with the idea of not having to learn any more, I will never really been an adult. Even when I’m 100 (hopefully) and sitting around watching all them young whipper-snappers run by, I’ll still won’t consider myself an adult, because I’ll still be learning. And that’s humbling, really, to think that I will never truly be finished. That, no matter how good I become at something, there will always be something else to accomplish on the horizon.
But just because there is always something to learn does not mean that graduation is some meaningless landmark. On the contrary, graduation marks the beginning of a new chapter. For some, that new chapter might be going to grad school and continuing their higher education. For me, that new chapter means being a fully-fledged teacher. And as terrifying as that is and as unprepared as I feel to do so, it’s also incredibly exciting. Because, really, it marks the end of the beginning of my life; it marks a transition from being educated, to becoming the educator. True, my students will be teaching me along the way just as I will teach them. But now I get to actually call myself a teacher. And that is exciting.
So this blog will attempt, in some fashion, to capture the beginnings of this new chapter. Some – most of them, probably – of these posts will talk about generic issues with relation to education, because there are certainly a lot to talk about. Some might just be some discussions about a popular video game, or a movie, or anything related to stories. And others might even be the wild ramblings of a madman as he attempts to understand where this new chapter will take him. Regardless, I hope you manage to find some sense from the madness, and have the courage to follow me through this remarkable journey.
Jacob Ryckman 