In school, I learned about the Revolutionary War, the Pythagorean Theorem and racial injustice from “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
All this knowledge is useful in certain settings, but one has to admit there is an array of valuable skills acquired mostly from experiences outside of school.
For example, I had to figure out on my own how to properly manage finances. I recall on more than one occasion rotating Ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches for daily meals because I valued the latest video game over nutrition. One thing is for sure, scraping by certainly builds character.
As for professional skills, another example of life education is learning the role of government, especially at the local levels. My initial introduction came in the form of a speeding ticket. As I entered the courtroom as a teenager, I recall being as nervous as a small bird with a hungry-cat neighbor. The images of people shackled at the wrists and ankles remain strong.
I eventually became familiar with town, city, county and state government through my job as a newspaper reporter. I compare the learning experience to that of what an internship offers. Like many students receiving guidance from employer mentors, I was fortunate enough to have government officials willing to explain the various processes to a rookie reporter.
I recall a tenacious battle over the number of days in which city residents could legally set off fireworks within city limits. This is one of the most contentious topics I’ve ever covered. The strong opposition caught me completely off guard. I expected usual government business when the city council suggested an expansion of days, but I was wrong.
A fairly large and very vocal group of people passionately fought against igniting fireworks on any day other than July 4th. The reason: many pet owners dreaded the celebration of the country’s independence because of the anguish it caused the pets they loved like family members. Apparently, some pets do not handle loud explosions well, some to the extent that they had to be sedated. I now know better than to assume such a thing exists as a “routine topic” involving our government.
This reminds me of the concept of environmental scanning that I’m learning about in school and during my internship here at Indiana INTERNnet. BusinessDictionary.com defines the term as, “Careful monitoring of an organization’s internal and external environments for detecting early signs of opportunities and threats that may influence its current and future plans.” The importance of keeping one’s head out of the sand provides plenty of food for thought.
As a recent professor of mine often said to his students, happy learning!
