As the end of my undergraduate career approaches, I reflect upon my most fulfilling educational experiences. The lectures and seminars conducted by the McConnell Center and the University of Louisville provided an outstanding environment for an academic exchange. I gained an incalculable profit by testing my ideas and arguments in a gauntlet of other minds. However, personal conceptions and world views need creation and manipulation before dissemination. An individual’s willingness to question and seek answers forms the cornerstone of educational growth. No person holds responsibility for another’s education.
During my sophomore year, the magnitude of self-education’s power revealed itself. I read Stephen B. Oates’s With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln for an upper division history course. That book emphasized Abraham Lincoln’s ability to expand his life beyond the expectations of his heritage. Born in a small Kentucky cabin, Lincoln spent his youth splitting rails and mending fences, dreaming of more fulfilling life. In his nonworking hours, Lincoln poured through the sparse amount of available literature. He sat in silence as his parents hosted company, reducing their conversations to the most comprehensible terms. Lincoln’s educational drive accounted for his success as a self-taught attorney and in public office.
Oates’s portrayal of Lincoln inspired me to combat educational dependency. I vowed be more than a specialist in my chosen field of study; I yearned for an expansive view of the world. Such unattainable goals contain a comforting quality. Although progress can be measured, no pressure to complete the task exists. Through self-education, I reviewed the works of Dante, Dostoyevsky, and Dumas. I learned that the most meaningful education stems from an individual’s diligence and drive.
During my sophomore year, the magnitude of self-education’s power revealed itself. I read Stephen B. Oates’s With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln for an upper division history course. That book emphasized Abraham Lincoln’s ability to expand his life beyond the expectations of his heritage. Born in a small Kentucky cabin, Lincoln spent his youth splitting rails and mending fences, dreaming of more fulfilling life. In his nonworking hours, Lincoln poured through the sparse amount of available literature. He sat in silence as his parents hosted company, reducing their conversations to the most comprehensible terms. Lincoln’s educational drive accounted for his success as a self-taught attorney and in public office.
Oates’s portrayal of Lincoln inspired me to combat educational dependency. I vowed be more than a specialist in my chosen field of study; I yearned for an expansive view of the world. Such unattainable goals contain a comforting quality. Although progress can be measured, no pressure to complete the task exists. Through self-education, I reviewed the works of Dante, Dostoyevsky, and Dumas. I learned that the most meaningful education stems from an individual’s diligence and drive.