by Sue Hibbetts

Created on: October 22, 2010

Fall 2010

Higher Learning – It’s Not What I Thought It Was!

As I go deeper into my education process, I find myself coming back to the center of the wheel. I seem to be having a reawakening of Spirit. I’m finding joy as well as stress on the path to higher learning. At the beginning of my college journey, the “human” part of me had many assumptions about degrees, grades and colleges. On one side, I felt angry that a little piece of paper was all that stood between me and “a better job.” And on the other side, I felt lacking in some way, as though that degree would tell others (and me) that I was finally “worthy!” It was as though all my years of learning through workshops, writing, reading & meditation had been second rate learning; that only “the degree” was acceptable knowledge.

But now as I’m deep into my studies, edging closer to one degree and the other degree not far behind, I’m finally beginning to understand that “higher learning” is not in the educational system. Higher learning is more than facts & figures, making the grade and achieving the 4.0. Higher learning is the time spent in meditation; it’s the hours and hours spent reading spiritually uplifting books and focusing the mind inward. It’s sitting with candles lit, crying & grieving the loss of loved ones. Higher learning comes from experiencing hard times and surviving - finding gratitude, even in the depths of despair. Higher learning is reaching your hand out to another who is hurting, comforting them in whatever way you can. Touching, consoling and honoring another “traveler on the path” - that takes skill and an open heart!

Yes, the 4.0 average was fun for me to have in college. But when I got it -  I forgot who I was for a time. I’m not just in college to achieve “the grade!” I’m here to add knowledge to my mind, to keep me young in mind and spirit! I’m here to accomplish new goals; to add knowledge to the knowledge I already have.

I’ve recently had a “spiritual awakening.” I already have a “Master’s Degree” in “Higher Learning!” Though there is no paper attached to my degree, I have attained a level of spiritual knowledge forged from the depths of near poverty, loss, lost dreams, struggle and the eternal hope for a better life. I’m almost sixty-two years old and have been on a “seeker’s path” most of my adult life. I’ve worked hard on this journey and it’s only now that I can truly say – “Congratulations Sue – you earned your Master’s Degree in HIGHER LEARNING!”

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