Perpetual Learner

The dictionary defines the word perpetual as "a feeling, state or quality that never ends or changes". Earlier this evening my Aunt told me that I seemed to be a perpetual learner and I begun to think about this comment.

I have been in school since I was 4 years old, about 20 years in total; 10 years in elementary school (8 years plus both junior and senior kindergarten), 5 years in high school (including OAC) and 4 and a half years in university (mind you I also took two summers worth of courses). I know that when I was not old enough to go to school I would pretend that I was going when my older brother went. I would try and suck as much information from him as I possibly could when he got home - I just couldn't get enough of it. Throughout my 20 years in school, I excelled. Not because I was inherently smart or anything like that, but because I enjoyed doing well. For the most part I enjoyed the schoolwork and what I was learning - though there were a few physics, thermodynamics and fluid courses in there I could have done without.

Now that I have officially graduated and completed the path that we are 'supposed' to take these days (elementary, secondary and post secondary) I have found that I am still hungry for information. I am done - and yet I continue. I have taken so far one term worth (one course) of photography courses at Algonquin College. I loved that first course. It ended mid-December and until today I was not taking any courses - I felt a little deprived. I have been lacking new information. I have come to the realization that I like to learn.

I have a hypothesis for this: I know how to learn. I have essentially been a professional student for about 20 years. I only started to work in the last 5 years of this time frame and even then, only for about 4 months at a time. At any significant point in my life I can pretty much guarantee that I was in school and was learning something. It is a staple in my life and in some weird way, I think it is a comfort.

My life post-graduation has been a little uncertain. I only recently became employed in my field and before this I was very stressed and generally concerned about never being able to find something. Throughout that time, I would surf the net and research certificate programs for different fields such as photography or web-design, etc. I would plan out the path I may or may not want to take to achieve the program requirements and try and figure out every aspect of that process (costing, timing, etc). It gave me some weird feeling of security to know that I could always go back to school. Perhaps this is why so many people get masters and PhDs in many areas - learning is enjoyable and comforting for them in a similar way that it is to me.

I am currently on the road to obtaining a Certificate in Digital Photography. I do not believe I will stop there - whether the future courses lead to more certificates or not, I do not know, but I believe I will keep trying to find new ways to learn.