Light My Fire

 

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” ~William Butler Yeats

My two granddaughters start school next week, and that got me thinking about school days. I love the end of summer and the return to the classroom. 

As a young girl growing up in the 1960s, I didn't care much for school. I was an awkward child from a dysfunctional home, a little agoraphobic, and afraid of my own shadow. I don't remember liking school, but that attitude had more to do with social anxiety than a distaste for learning. Fast forward sixty years, and I am a voracious adult learner. Possessing two masters degrees and several certificates, the last thing I need or want is another piece of paper in a frame on my wall. While my diploma-seeking days are behind me, my thirst for knowledge is keen. 

As I age, my curiosity is at an all time high. At 68, I am a lifelong learner passionate about discovering everything from horseback riding to oyster farming to airport architecture.. Fortunately, I live in a state with robust adult learning programs and opportunities. The Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University are within driving distance, and there is a major university minutes from my home. The University of Rhode Island hosts the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) on its Kingston campus. You probably have a chapter of OLLI in your state.  Founded in 1999, OLLI offers noncredit courses with no entrance requirements, no tests, and no grades, (just learning for the sake of learning) for adults over age 50 in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. 

I just registered for my fall classes (for under $100), and I can feel the fire beginning to burn. 

Interested in taking a class? Here's the link to OLLI locations around the country: https://www.osherfoundation.org/olli_list.html

Finally, I've compiled a short list of quotes about lifelong learning. Which of these quotes resonates with you? Feel free to add one or more of your own.

"A lifelong learner is someone who is passionate about learning." Sharlene Habermeyer

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” ~Henry Ford

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” ~William Butler Yeats

“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” ~Albert Einstein

“There are few things more pathetic than those who have lost their curiosity and sense of adventure, and who no longer care to learn.” ~Gordon B. Hinckley

“All the world is my school and all humanity is my teacher.” ~George Whitman

“Read daily to renew your mind.” ~Lailah Gifty Akita

“The education of a man is never completed until he dies.” ~Robert E. Lee