What’s left?

My 50 year college reunion committee sent out a classmate survey.  One of the questions was how I applied what I learned in college.  I wasn’t prepared for a trick question!

So I chatted with my 14 year old grandson about his school experiences.  He’s in the 8^th grade and I’m not sure what he’s learning nor how well he’s doing.  He’s smart but he doesn’t give the impression of being a good student.  Turning in his assignments on time seems to be a challenge.  (I can relate!)

Of course, his generation is growing up with the machines; aka AI; aka Artificial Intelligence.  (I always worry why it’s called “artificial”, but I digress.)  It’s common for grandparents to worry about their grandchildren, true?  Get a good education is a common theme we harp on.  But what exactly is a “good education” and how do we apply it in our everyday lives?

Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn't know.

Daniel Joseph Boorstin

For better or worse, the traditional learning I grew up with is all different today.  We don’t have to read that well anymore; the machines read for us now.  We don’t have to write that well; talk-to-text and ChatGBT handle the writing.  What’s left?  My grandson makes online friends through gaming apps.  Does that make for learning good social skills?  Maybe the grandparents should join in.

It makes me think back to my experiences at school and that 50-year reunion survey.  What did I study in high school and college, and what did I use throughout my career?

I’m hoping my grandson’s generation will turn out like mine.  He may forget how to use parallelograms but with any luck he’ll remember how to file his taxes.

                                                            GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.