Words on Education

Engaging Education

Growing up my motivation for doing well in school was driven mainly by conformity. I was taught that attending school was mandatory in order to be successful in life, but never told why. At first, I didn't really question it, I loved learning and was happy to be in school. When I was taught how to decipher those strange words all around me, and how to use numbers to figure out the amount of money I needed to buy stuff, I was genuinely excited. Then something happened, things started to get weird; numbers mixed with letters, reading became a chore, and school started to lose its context. I was experiencing a disconnect between the "real world" and "school world." I became disengaged with school and eventually dropped out.

After years of being passed from grade to grade, despite me not understanding the material, I was sick of school. So began one of the most important periods in my life. I discovered something that had been hidden from me for years, that learning can be fun. I read the books I wanted to read, experimented with drawing classes, and fiddled with computer programming. I was searching for my passion. I promised myself never to go back to school. Through the power of Youtube, and some awesome instructors, I managed to teach myself all the math I had been failing for years and obtain my GED. I thought that was the end of that. "No more school for me!" I yelled. How naive.

After years of taking classes online, reading dozens of books, and conversing with some interesting people; I reached the limits of my autodidactic education. There were certain obstacles in my way, like how I was not sure what was the correct way to measure my progress nor had I made a plan for my future. I knew that I could benefit from some formal instruction once again, so I decided to enroll in my local community college. I definitely was not looking forward to being stuck in a classroom.

My mind thought it was going to be an absolutely dreadful experience, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was no longer that same student in high school. My first semester felt very empowering, and nearly all my classes were enjoyable. My English professor used multimedia in his classroom to teach. We analyzed a song, watched films, and used philosophy and superheroes to learn. It blew my mind how engaging this all was yet still educational. I was having a blast in a classroom setting. All was going great, except for math.

Taking math in college felt exactly how it did in high school. It was ineffective and boring. I had been exposed to the concept of using Youtube and other resources to teach myself. Despite all the techniques I used previously for math there was still an obstacle. Youtube was not enough; A key ingredient was missing in order to maximize my learning. One can watch someone ride a bike all day long, but until one gets on a bike, one will never actually learn. This is especially true with Mathematics. Although at that time I would not find out what exactly was missing in my approach, it would not take long before it became clear to me, and once it did learning was the never the same again.

Come the second semester, I discovered my passion for storytelling and education. I had a research paper to write, and the topic I chose was using graphic novels in the classroom. This research opened my mind further to the possibilities of using other tools to learn. I was obsessed with answering one question: Why sometimes school can be boring, and how can we make it more engaging? The extensive research I was doing gave me some new insight on my math engagement problems. I read about all the benefits of using graphic novels to learn, how it promotes visual literacy and increases engagement. I thought, Wait a minute. I could try this myself. I had avoided math that semester, but I knew what I had to do.

Summer was approaching, and it was time for me to take a risk. I was going to use myself as a Guinea pig and try out all the methods I researched. I made the strategic decision to focus completely on math during my summer semester in order to be successful. I had many challenges to overcome, like the stigma that if you are creative you're supposed to be bad at math. If you're not majoring in engineering or any math related field, it is encouraged that you say "I'm not a math person." My skin crawls just hearing that statement.