Receiving a Public Education

Public Education

Typical Overall, I probably had a fairly normal education for someone born in the early 1970's. I attended public school for elementary, junior high, and high school. I also went to a university to get a degree. At the time, the education I received seemed good, but not great.

Introvert Individual I had no understanding or concepts of personality profiles [socionics] at that time. However, the unique characteristics of being a moderately strong introvert as well as an intuitive thinker were definitely having their effect. Throughout my childhood, teen years, and early twenties I had very few friends. I also grew up out in a small burg mostly surrounded by farm fields. Therefore, I spent a lot of time reading books such as mysteries and how-to guides as well as watching television and playing home video games.

Looking Back How good was my education? Wow ... that is a difficult and complex question to answer. On the one hand, I was taught a lot of information and exposed to a wide variety of topics. On the other hand, I was just repeating information rather than taught critical thinking skills. I was given a broad-brushed history with a European-American bias which had an 'us versus them' mentality. I was given an overly simplified view of the continent, the world, and the nations.

One of the few benefits of having watched a huge amount of television was that I was exposed to many different nationalities and cultures. It provided some glimmer of understanding that there are different perspectives. My, as yet, undeveloped interest in warfare was subtly noticing that history is most often written by the winner and they would always try to make themselves look like the good guy even if they were the aggressors (the bad guys).

Elementary School

Band Class I played trombone in the school band for a couple of years and appreciate the understanding of basic music theory that I learned. I have been better able to enjoy music through my life more because of it and I have some appreciation for the work that professional musicians go through to play as they are able.

First Aid Class One of the few things I remember and appreciate from elementary school was receiving a week with CPR and first-aid classes. This was the real course. It would assume a scenario like two people being out in the wilderness, one receiving a severe injury like a broken bone, and dealing with it as best as possible. I am thankful that I have not had to use that information in any significant way. However, years later, I learned just how good a class it was. In one of my job locations, the employees were allowed to take a first-aid class nearly all of which largely consisted of calling an ambulance because help should be only a few minutes away.

Junior High School

Middle School Grades Up During my elementary and first half of the middle school years, my grades were usually C's or D's. I think this was largely my fault in not really applying myself or being bored with school. At the age of 14, something kicked in and I decided I wanted to learn ... perhaps because I began recognizing that a better education should lead to a better life. My grades instantly jumped to A's and B's.

Computer At the time, home computers were coming out. I remember having a Commodore with 20 kilobytes of memory and an Apple IIC which could handle the 5 1/4 floppy drives later. I was computer literate. In fact, I helped as a computer aide in the computer classes. I also learned to type quickly so I was assigned the task of typing up some of the office memos and announcements that would be passed around to the teachers ... this gave me slightly advanced knowledge of coming activities such as when a fire drill would be coming.

Senior High School

Continuing on in this theme in my high school years, I also helped the librarian with a lot of data entry and document formatting on the computer rather than sit bored in my study hall period.

The sum of all this is I was more likely to be involved with projects with the teachers rather than hanging out with my fellow students. In many ways, I was subtly learning the effects of respect for authority and the favor given to those who were helpful. The alternative, which I did not want at all, was playing all the social games that happened between the popular kids, the jocks, the nerds, and the many rankings of popularity. I just ignored them all.

I was definitely on the nerdy / geeky side of things although I had such a non-traditional personality that I did not attach myself to any of the 'cliques' and groups that typically formed in school. In fact, I was surprised in the high school yearbook to win an award for 'most individual style'. Hmm ... yes, I definitely had some quirks about me ... especially doing everything quickly whether it was moving, thinking, or simply eating.

University

And then there came my university years. Wow ... this was definitely a time of growth and expansion. Instead of just being in a small town bubble, I was at a major university with many thousands of students from many different backgrounds, nationalities, and beliefs. The most basic classes could have up to 600 students in auditorium style seating while my senior level core classes for my major would have less than ten. I had a couple professors that were uncaring but found that most professors were quite encouraging and, if you dug in a little bit, had interesting lives and their own academic pursuits or activities writing and publishing.

Still, my goal was on education and not the many social interactions that a university provided. I was commuting each day rather than living on campus. I did not join a fraternity. I did not join the various cliques including the sporting or partying crowds.

I would end up with a Conservation Biology major and a Geography minor. The three buildings I spent the most time in was biology (which also had a greenhouse), geography/geology, and the library. These were a major part of my life for five years.

Liberalism The university system requires students to take 'liberal education classes' such as art history, world music, and such things to round out your education. At the time, I truly enjoyed the variety and I must admit there is some benefit to being able to recognize what is happening around oneself. However, much later I would come to understand that taking liberal education tends to make you more liberal ... as in, less conservative and certainly farther from traditional roles and beliefs. This is a subtle trap hiding in plain sight. As I was not yet an active believer, this would probably have been difficult to notice.

Looking Back A couple decades later, I decided to go back and visit biology department. I spoke with a graduate student working in the herbarium. Wow ... I was shocked. This person was lamenting that they did not take field trips like I had but, instead, everything was now being done in the lab with genetics. I also noticed that the bookstore was all but gone as printed books had been replaced with digital.

College

After I became an active believer and also after getting married, we lived near a local Christian college. I decided to take some classes as an adult not seeking a degree. The courses were bittersweet. One was on Christian counseling, but it was simply normal counseling with christian terminology and it dealt a lot more with mentally dealing with things while not pursuing the spiritual aspects of problems. The spiritual gifts class ended up being blatantly full of new-age / oriental concepts just covered over with a christian name. What I discovered was just how far Christianity had been changed by society and other religions rather than deeply learning the Bible or how to build a better relationship with the Eternal.

Traveling Across the United States

Perhaps one of the best ways to show the difference between my education and reality comes with a few examples from my years traveling much later in life.

Misconceptions One of the bittersweet joys of camping has been correcting many of the misconceptions I have had about the geology, geography, and environments found within the United States. I spent nearly all of my first twenty years of life in NE Ohio and my concepts of the United States landscape came through public media such as television, newspapers, and magazines as well as my education in school. However, what I thought I knew was not really correct since it was built on a Hollywood or glamorized vacation package view of the National Parks and Forests.

Death Valley National Park It was much to my surprise that Death Valley National Park was not all sand and dunes. That was the picture in my head after countless articles and videos about Death Valley and the few animals that can live in that harsh sand dune environment. Instead, it is surrounded by mountains, is largely scrub brush plains, includes a salt flat, and (oh yeah) it has a tiny little section in the middle with sand dunes. Not only that, but what was considered to be only a hot, dry place can also be a cold, dry place. We visited in the winter and, surprisingly, had to wear our coats because it was so cold.

American Southwest My views of the American Southwest had many misconceptions also. One of these is the view that it was a hot, sweltering place which might by typified by Phoenix Arizona in the summer. However, much of the western landscape comes at higher altitudes and gets cold in the winter and can even have snow in the summer. I had not understood that Grand Canyon National Park had elevations approaching 10,000 feet and so I never expected to have icicles hanging from my camping trailer. Nor did I expect to have to wipe a heavy snowfall off of my tent in New Mexico in the spring.

Physically Challenging With these and many other experiences behind me, I look at the Almighty's creation and life in general with a greater awareness of the impact of environment upon mankind. I understand better the struggles of the early pioneers as they moved Westward into these sometimes harsh landscapes. I realize that life, without the convenience of grocery stores and modern equipment, can be physically challenging.

Beautiful Creation Even so, there is a beauty to His creation in all of these locations and environments. Various kinds of wildlife can be found throughout all but the harshest of conditions. The variety of plants and animals as well as how they all interact is clearly of incredible design and not the product of random chance as I was taught while growing up. The reality of His creation is before us and it gives honor to the Almighty.

This page is under construction. My apologies for any misspellings, repeated text, missing references, etc. Please visit again later for a more complete treatment of this topic.