Van Deusen 1
Adam Van Deusen
20th March 2009
Mr. Wies
An Extended Definition of Education
Education is not always about big books, planned curriculum, and mind-numbing
assignments at an expensive school. The experiences, and processes that alter how an
individual thinks, that is true education. It is along this rugged path of sometimes
unorganized learning that a person discovers themselves, and the true meaning of life.
Tim O’Brien’s “The Man I Killed”, and Tom Montgomery-Fate’s “Dancing Geckos” both
illustrate how they were educated by an experience in their own lives.
Many experiences allow individuals to endure challenges, and struggle. This
shock of difficulty forces the body and mind to adapt. Adaptation for survival.
Montgomery-Fate‘s “Dancing Geckos” describes a man who steps outside of his comfort
zone into unforeseen territory in hopes of furthering his learning. His standard ways of
teaching and even day to day living became useless in his new environment. Slowly he
learned to observe his surroundings, and become the student instead of the teacher.
I later found a different set of questions to be more helpful: Am I
listening? What do I hear? How can I listen more carefully? Am I watching?
What do I see? I kept watching the geckos, their entropic dashing, their
delicate chaos. I blocked out the lure of the notepad, my list of
potential accomplishments, and focused. (Montgomery-Fate,
179).
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I feel this drastic lifestyle change educates a person in how to change themselves
to accomplish desired goals. As he slowly adapted to his poverty stricken community,
things started to make sense. Day to day life was much easier, and he had grown in both
mind and body. Fate’s students were much different from what he was used to in the
suburbia of the United States. These eager learners valued every second in the classroom
as an opportunity, since they did not know if they’d be able to come the next day or not.
Many people of the United States take for granted the life full of opportunity that they are
presented with. Not to say that each does not face struggles or challenges, but sometimes
people don’t realize how luck they are. Studying abroad in new environment allows you
to see how others live and learn to appreciate your own life. Learning to survive in new
territory is educating oneself to change.
Surviving outside of normality can be a struggle in itself. Tim O’Brien’s “The
Man I Killed” is a self reflection of a soldier’s recent kill on an opposing military force.
O’Brian becomes infatuated with his victim, to the point of recreating who he thought
this soldier was. Both his prey and himself are far away from home, fighting for a higher
cause which they may or may not agree with. Educating themselves in their new territory,
and dealing with the challenges of being away from the norm. O’Brian realizes he could
be the one laying dead in a ditch, instead of the young man, who appeared unfit for
warfare. He reflects on the harshness and brutality of war: “He knew he would die
quickly. He knew he would see a flash of light. He knew he would fall dead and wake up
in the stories of his village and people (O’Brian 377).” Soldiers of all ages fight for
survival, and battle to the death against opposing individuals who they have never met
and may never meet. Death is a permanent state, and life is a valuable one time
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opportunity. It is important to learn this lesson early before it has passed you by.
Education has many forms and faces. A good education can be relative. A lawyer
may value attending Harvard Law as his understanding of a good education. A
cosmetologist may value time spent working at a good salon as a form of good education.
However, you don’t truly learn something until you undergo some type of change and
growth. A child who touches a hot stove, will quickly educate himself on the dangers of
heat in the kitchen. This sudden rush of pain creates a memorable experience in one’s
mind, which took them outside of their comfort zone and out of normality. That same
child will then learn to adapt to the condition, and avoid making the same mistake again.
Thus, he or she has learned something based on sheer accidental experience.
The experiences and processes that alter how an individual thinks, that is
education. A top ten school is not needed to provide a good education. Some of the most
un-wealthy people experience the greatest education. An education on life, growth and
change. Learning to adapt to different situations, based on needs and desires. It is a
process that takes time and individual effort. Everyone must endure struggle to obtain the
results they want. Challenges that push you outside of your comfort zone and into
unknown territory open up doors to furthered education. Opportunity is around us
everyday for a better future, but none of it will come easy. It truly is the survival of the
fittest.
