1.22.2014

"an educated woman"

That's what my grandma called herself: an educated woman. About five years ago I spent eight hours recording my grandma's personal history, and after she died I transcribed her story and made it into a book for the family. At the very end, she made a point of telling me that she even though she didn't have much formal schooling, she was an educated woman. And she was.

I love this. My grandma had to work to help provide for her and her mother, and because of this my grandma never finished high school. She never went to college. She never had a diploma of any kind to frame and display. But she was educated--she was a lifelong learner. And that's what I want to be too.


Doesn't that just make you excited? It does me. And that probably makes me a little nerdy. But nerdy is in now, right? Right. It's the thing to listen to podcasts, read both fiction and nonfiction, and watch PBS and BBC documentaries. Learning is cool because it's available. What a waste if we didn't take advantage of all those opportunities to learn and educate ourselves. Especially as a mother of a young boy, I tremendously value the countless ways I have to be a lifelong learner.

Someday I'd love to go back to school and pursue a master's degree. That's a dream I truly want to see realized. And if I'm super honest, it's not going to happen super soon. Most of our education won't come from the classroom and can't be represented on a diploma. In my personal history, in that story that I leave my posterity, I want them to know that I am an educated woman. Lifelong learning leaves a beautiful legacy, and I'm going to make it happen.

2 comments:

Hannah Holt said...

Your grandma was definitely and educated woman (in every sense). I think it's important for my children to see me reading books, trying new things, and geeking out over growing vegetables (I spent Monday making an hour-by-hour sun map of our yard). It helps them know there is joy to be had in doing almost anything, and that there are no mundane subjects, only mundane attitudes.

Jill said...

I'm sure there all sorts of degreed women who aren't really "educated". Your grandma is an inspiration to me on so many levels and learning is just one of them.

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