educated by nature

 I was on a call with my doctor (first good one I've had in New York State) and he sees my MN area code...he says....  I'm from Minnesota too!!!!  I'm about to lose him - he's leaving the practice upstate to work on an Indian Reservation ....  the guy is not only good at what he does, he's good period.  I'm so bummed to lose him as my doctor.

It made me think about our education system - where we live and how we learn -  and how it does carve us - who we are inside - into who we become and what we do....where we go next.....

Cara was educated in New York City - she ditched classes, failed often, and didn't enjoy going to school and she ademently wants our kids to go to NYC public schools!  She believes they'll learn the social skills they will need to survive the streets and get by living in the city.

Cara has hideous grammar - can't spell - can't write a sentence without deleting half of it - according to many the school system failed her.... but!  The girl can get anywhere in the city driving/training/walking without fear - can talk to anyone she meets anywhere - makes friends exceedingly fast - because those were the life skills she needed and knew she had to learn!

She makes more money than me, better benefits  - an incredibly steady job that she's passionate about that takes her on fancy work trips and dinners with a company car she can drive anywhere - she's doing great!  Her education got her exactly what she needed - the ability to communicate with New Yorkers!

I was educated in the St. Paul city school system - a mix of public school / art school / a LOT of time at the library and private music classes 1:1, reading books in my basement every summer and learning how to learn.  My education was pretty much designed just for me - straight A's in school with extra curriculars nights and weekends to go the extra mile and learn what I wanted to learn - an introvert who liked to be alone and think. - I don't know if I care where our kids go to school - as I figure they'll absorb what they need when they need it with parents like us.

I have pretty all right grammar skills and I use them 8 hours a day to make a living alone in my house!  At this point I can likely survive anywhere because I can work remotely - and can go an entire day not talking to anyone not leaving my house and still get a pay check (not a good thing necessarily but a fact) 

Doctor guy was educated in a suburb of Minneapolis down the road - he was likely educated in one of the best suburban schools with sports programs and music and art programs that pushed college early learning and career planning with impeccable math and science courses -  possibly with doctor parents - just a guess!

The kid obviously has incredible reading/writing/math skills - and now works whatever jobs he wants to when he wants to where he wants to - to make the world a better place - with a long career in front of him that pays substantially more than Cara or my jobs ever will.  

I wonder where he'd want his kids to go to school!

We are all happy with our jobs...happy people!  Doing what we love!  But to say the system is fair for everyone is simply untrue.  We were each of us sculpted and designed to do the work we now do based on our educations and where we grew up.  We learned the skills we needed to survive in our environments and that led us each to where we are now and what we will do down the road.  

I learned how to learn.  So did Cara.  So did my doc.  We are all doing our parts in the world - but do some of us get a little more leg up than others to get their start based on how good their school systems are?  Yet, Cara wants our kids to learn the skills she learned in NYC.....isn't that interesting!