Let’s start with one that is dear to my heart. I’m a believer that learning should never end. 2-3 capital letters behind your name symbolizes the achievement of an educational degree. Our society encourages higher levels of degrees for attainment. There was a time in history where only the wealthy attended colleges but now student loans and grants make it possible for just about anyone to attend college to improve their chances of obtaining the career one desires. Having a degree was an honor but now it has been watered down.

Most people go to school with one thing in mind and that is to get out as soon as possible with the least about of work possible. Students come to school not wanting to do homework, they don’t want to attend class, forget studying…yet they want you to hand them those letters. Many cheat the entire time or do as little as possible to get by. Once they have those letters, they flaunt them, and apply for jobs based off of them but with the oldest trick in the book of leaving that ever so low GPA off. How dare you not hire them and recognize their “accomplishment” they worked so hard for is what they are thinking and saying. No one will say anything, not even the parents because the goal was meet. And the CEO is suppose to hire you based off of your credentials. What credentials!!! You didn’t learn anything but how to cheat your way around. That’s so disrespectful.

Then there is that group that go back to school for a raise. Goal remains the same, which is to just get by so they can simply add the degree to their resume. The funny part of this one is that usually this group is older. Often times they have families of their own. Some even have kids old enough to be in high school or college. They aren’t interested in true learning. They too could care less about homework and studying. Often times doing their assignments at their jobs so they can have the evenings free. Some may resort to cheating as well.

Despite what you may be thinking, I’m not here to judge anyone’s school habits. This blog won’t change that but I do want to bring up this realization. How can you be chasing a dream taking short cuts! No one wants a doctor that doesn’t know the difference between a parietal lobe from a proximal phalange. No one wants a lawyer that doesn’t know the laws. An accountant confusing debits and credits. Hairstylist missing the class on proper care of color with a perm. You didn’t have to go natural sistah. So you decided to embrace its popularity but really it wasn’t a choice. No one wants a mechanic who fails to work on the exhilarator carburetor. He was messing around with spark plug when he should’ve been fixing the exhilarator carburetor. (LOL…Madea’s Family Reunion).

Jokes aside. Having a degree for a job or for a promotion will only take us so far. There takes a strong work ethic to reach the levels we dream for ourselves. Well, we will work hard when we get that job or promotion, we often admit. But here is a close fact. Our work ethics in school are often very similar to our work ethics on our jobs. Our work ethics within our marriages are often very similar to that with our kids. If we are to better ourselves, we have to work on the whole complete self. No way we can expect an A at work with an F education mentality. How can we expect an A with our marriages yet earning Fs with our kids? And how can we demand to have A kids, while being satisfied as an F ourselves? If we want our kids to be their best…We. Must. Be. Our. Best.

Want education to be important in your home. Easy. Make education important in your home. The only book they see your read can’t be FaceBook. If you can’t say Amen…say OUCH.

“The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” ~Brian Herbert

Thank you for your attention. Remember you are your own competition.

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