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Nowadays, with the Internet and the World Wide Web, anyone who has the determination to learn something, regardless of what it is, can do so. Even foreign languages can be self-taught, through the use of tapes, interaction with people (on the net or phone or in person) who speak the language, and lots of oral practice. I'm not sure that I could pinpoint any subject that could not be learned by a person who was determined to learn it, given at least the normal I.Q. of that person's age-level group.

For instance, I am not a genius. In high school, I tested at somewhere around 120, I think it was. That was almost 50 years ago. I graduated from college, got a master's degree, and taught at the college level. I taught myself how to crochet and to knit, have worked as a jewelry salesperson, a car salesman, a safety person in construction, a cashier, and a worker in the storeroom at Wal-Mart. I have had to teach myself most of what I know about getting around on the Internet and finding things. I know a little French and Spanish; history and English were my majors for my graduate study, and elementary education for my undergraduate degree. I taught school for a couple of years. But I'm not an expert in anything. I have learned a lot by reading, by going to classes, and by talking to people. I still have a lot to learn.

But I also know that, if I had to do it, I could learn to weld, or build houses (I painted the inside of our first house, myself!), or do almost anything else. Just because I am a female, my mother thought that I could never be anything other than a housewife, a telephone operator, or a nurse. But women are now doing anything they want to do, and some of them are learning their trade through their own reading, experience, sweat, and tears.

Yes, educating yourself isn't easy, but it CAN be done! All you have to do is decide what you want to learn, then do some research to learn how to go about doing so. And with the Internet, there is no longer an excuse for anyone to be less than what he or she really wants to be! You CAN do it, so go for it! The world is your oyster, and all you have to do is the digging!

Learn more about this author, Barbara A. Black.
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