by Patti Winters

Created on: January 12, 2009

"The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without a teacher." Elbert Hubbard stated this kernel of truth, but what does it really mean? Are children or adults, for that matter, supposed to stop being educated after they finish school, whether it is high school, college or a trade school? When we receive our degrees, does that mean we stop learning and being educated? If so, what are we supposed to be doing for the rest of our lives? Most people finish college in their mid-twenties, is that supposed to be when their education stops? Does education stop when you finish school or does it continue throughout your life?

Education has many different definitions, but it is still difficult to clearly articulate the definition. According to Merriam-Webster, education is the action or process of educating or of being educated. What does it mean to be educated? Merriam-Webster states that educated is giving evidence of training or practice. If someone has training then they are educated, so education would be the process of someone being trained. It also states that if you have evidence of practice then you are educated. If someone practices a task until they show evidence of having practiced the task, then they have received an education in the task. Therefore, education is not limited to formal schooling.

Education is the acquisition of knowledge. It is taking ownership of the information given to you whether through formal education or through life skills. Education is living. Education begins from the time you are born until your death. These are basic truths of education. If you stop having an education then you die, because to be alive is to learn new things. "The whole object of education is...to develop the mind. The mind should be a thing that works." (Sherwood Anderson) If we follow this guideline we will have a mind that continually works and learns new things. It is a mind that will crave education because it will get bored and tired of the same information and will want a constant refreshing of new information.

One of the most important educations you will receive are life skills. These skills will teach you how to treat other people, how to behave in a social setting and how to take care of yourself. You are educated on many different aspects of life, whether financial, social, or moral, through different channels and people you meet. How much education you choose to receive will determine how well you do in life. If you decide that you

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