Growth through Knowledge 1

December 17, 2016

Dr. Melanie Borrego
Mary S. McGrath
LBSU 487: Applied Studies Capstone

Growth through Knowledge

A continued education provides the growth of oneself. This growth is achieved when the
person makes the decision to obtain a degree, learn a new field, research, or just take a handful or
courses to obtain a new skill. According to research done and reported by Matthews (2014), the
human brain has billions of power hungry neurons waiting to be used. The saying knowledge
is power underestimates the benefit you gain through continued education. If a person chose to
limit their education and not continue to learn, they are actually reducing their potential to
become a more rounded individual.
With both of my daughters coaxing me in to continuing my education, I decided to take
the chance. I knew that this would be a lot of work but I also knew that this would allow me to
grow as an individual. In addition, I knew that I would be facing a new challenge since I never
liked school. In my past, I was the student that would study for hours and hours and still obtain
an average grade. This average grade hit me as a fail, although it was considered average, I
wished for the higher grade. When I attended a Junior College, that average grade is all I
expected which affected my willingness to push myself.
My experience of disliking school is not unique, and unfortunately it affects many in their
early school years. According to Nation Master, based on a study reported in 2010, the dislike of
school-going children is shared by many countries. In the United States, the survey showed that
35% of the children disliked school. One could understand this statistic by thinking as a child.

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Perhaps as child, they are very bored. A child may need more visual and hands-on experience
that what a school can offer. If more school-age children enjoyed school, more students would
grow to love learning and keep this love throughout their life.
Perhaps when I was young, my dislike for school contributed to my average grade.
Thankfully, even though I disliked school, I did realize the benefit of continuing my education.
It does make me wonder if the students that dislike school such as I did contribute to drop-out
statistics of our youth. Although we have heard that our drop-out rate has decreased over years,
there are still those that unfortunately stop their education at a very young age. These students
are missing out on their true potential.
With those adults choosing to continue their education, whatever age they are, they are
finding personal growth as well as added intelligence in their subjects. According to the Bureau
of Labor Statistics, In October 2015, 69.2 percent of 2015 high school graduates were enrolled
in college universities. Sixty-nine percent is a great number, however, when you realize that
we have millions of students graduating per year, we also have millions that do not continue to
educate and grow.

Simply put, when one learns something new, they are growing as a person.

If you could picture your brain with emotions, you would see a happy face every time you learn
something new.
When I chose as an adult to expand my education, my willingness to push myself
returned. This push allowed me to push beyond the average and reach for the best.

When I

took the leap to finally obtain a degree I knew it would be a huge challenge, and was actually
fearful due to my past school experiences, however, I was up for the challenge. I began as a very
nervous student, not understanding how to navigate through the on-line system, and course by
course, noticed a change in myself. It was not that I felt in love with school, that trait had not

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totally diminished, but it was that I loved to learn. Unfortunately, school plus learning had to go
together for me to achieve my goal. I would soon be surprised at how much knowledge I had
gained in a short time.
Some courses I actually hated, such as math. Although during the course of the eight
week class, my director needed some mathematical analysis performed. This analysis would
require me to use my recently learned math skills. I presented my findings to the director who
was very impressed. This was just the beginning. Not only did I find that I was able to utilize
the skills I had learn on my day to day activity, but then I found that I could communicate with
others on subjects that I had never previously cared about.
As a manager, there were many classes related to business administration. The skills I
began to obtain were able to be applied on a daily basis. This benefit enhanced me as a manager
and an employee. I have also had opportunities to take classes on ethics, poetry, literature, as
well as many others. I have found that the benefit of learning surpasses any of the work required
to learn. These extra skills have allowed me to grow as an individual as well as build my
confidence level. I have always been confident, but I was not as confident as I really believed.
This new found growth is tied to my expanding and ever growing knowledge through schools. It
has also allowed me to realize that outside of school, I can expand my growth through other
avenues such as reading and research on whatever subject I wish.
With my leap, I believe anyone that chooses can also take that same leap. With technology
available, we do not have to sit in a classroom all day but can take options to learn on-line.
Learning on-line has allowed me to continue working full-time while also enhancing my skills.
The more we learn, the better we are. The more we learn, the more we can share. The more we
learn, the more we understand the people around us. A person can chose what they like, and

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perhaps that person will be one that likes school. Even if the person is like me and does not
love school, when you make yourself available to accepting to expand your skills, you are the
winner. The saying knowledge is power underestimates the benefit you gain through
continued education. When you as an adult chose to take that leap and expand your skills, you
immediately grow. It may not be a simple growth experience, you will have challenges, but you
will succeed. If you chose to not grow and go stagnant, you are actually cheating yourself.
There is so much to learn that one cannot even fathom the possibilities. You may not be a
rocket scientist, but you can choose to learn whatever you wish! If a person chose to limit
their education and not continue to learn, they are actually reducing their potential to become a
more rounded individual.

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References:
College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2015 High School Graduates. (2016). Retrieved
December 17, 2016, from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm
Matthews, C. (n.d.). What Percentage Of Our Brains Do We Actually Use? Popular Myth
Debunked In TED-Ed Video. Retrieved December 17, 2016, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/04/ted-ed-percentage-brain-richard-c
ytowic_n_4719173.html
NationMaster. (2010). Countries compared by education > student attitude > dislike of school.
International statistics at NationMaster.Com. Retrieved December 17, 2016, from
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Education/Student-attitude/Dislike-ofschool