Teach By Doing

So I’ve decided its time to jump in with both feet and sink or swim, again. This time its by planning on going back to college to add to the degree I already have received for Computer-Aided Drafting. While obtaining that degree, I entered into another major at the same college, Carpentry, but was unable to continue with the program for a number of factors. Having pieced this together in a matter of about 30 minutes, I think I’ve got a pretty solid plan thought out.

There are four majors that I’ve looked over, and they all fit within the same umbrella of things that interest me. Along with my CADD degree, I am thinking of returning and obtaining degrees from these majors: Precision Metals, Computer Electronics, Carpentry, & Electrical Wiring. I’ve had a taste of doing each through experience or hobbies. Precision Metals in my mind is the next logical step and evolution of my drafting degree, it builds on what I’ve already learned, and applies it to a different industry. Computer Electronics will offer not only the degree, but industry certifications, allowing me to expand on my hobby of messing with computers. The Carpentry and Electrical Wiring degrees will further expand the knowledge I have from drafting as well as the hands on experience gained from helping a friend with an expansion project that involved a mix of new and old construction as well as outlet connections.

With these four degree majors, I will be able to explore fields that I find interesting and that build off each other while furthering my future potentials. It is also a way to teach by doing and by showing. Words only hold so much meaning and fall apart without the action to back them up. I can instill the value of education and the benefits it offers, but without having that, “doing” presence behind it, it becomes meaningless. By my actions of going back, I will be able to show my daughter that obtaining her education beyond her high school years will be a beneficial endeavor that can and will open up a wide variety of possibilities for her to explore.

In effect, continuing my education and instilling that value in her allows a quote from a favorite TV series from the mid-90’s to become reality. The quote comes from the opening title sequence of the show, “The Pretender“, and read, “the ability to become anyone he wants to be”. Further education is the enabler of such an ability, one that I’ve come to value greatly since high school. Hopefully she will grow and come to value this as much as I have.

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