What's in an Education

For over a week I've been taking a deep-dive into education systems–mostly between the US and the UK. I have no idea what spurred it but I scratched that itch. I think it's because I love to continuously learn and always wonder about interests I have in other declines. Would I change? If I did what options would I have had to do before?

I went to a public high school in the US and eventually made my way to getting a bachelor's degree in the UK. In the UK, you start narrowing down your interests and aptitudes from 14 years old (US grade 9). Not all classes have the same weight, unlike in the US. And thus, outside of the core subjects like English, math, science, modern foreign language, and social sciences, the time and frequency is much less. It's an interesting approach. What's great is that by the time you are 16 years old, you have covered the equivalent of the US high school diploma. And from 16-18 you are taking A-Levels which starts off as four subjects and nearly everyone drops one after the first year to three which is the minimum requirement for university. Even Oxford and Cambridge only require three. So, you better know what it is you love and excel at because it's two years of deep-diving on math or English or science or language or history or the arts.

Now I love many subjects so I would find it difficult. But by the time you are 14 you will have a good idea. I pretty much knew by high school and really by 16 we have an idea. The thing is is you now have to take that path at university unless you do some sort of conversion course later– which will cost you another year. For example, if you are going to university to study medicine, then you need to at least take chemistry in A-Levels (and ideally biology and math as the other two). The ultimate keep your options open would be to take English Lit, math, and history or a language. That will get you into most courses. The problem is you have you pick the course you want to be accepted for at that university. So, Oxbridge only lets you apply to one course at their respective universities. Then, you apply at others. But you can only apply to five! So you better have a plan and some back up choices. And yes, there are the Oxbridge reject unis. And there's no real switching courses (majors) later either. Except Cambridge allows a select number to switch from their, say History degree, to a final year management degree, which is a nice option. I have a friend who did this as he decided to get into management consulting after graduation.

My experience. The assessment difference was a shock to my system, needless to say. Some modules were a year long with 100 percent end-of-year examination, choose 3 questions of 8 (which requires a bit of guess work on which ones will show up, so better over-prepare)–you have three hours to write your essay responses, which by final year, you best have at least 8 referenced sources per topic to formulate your argument. Fun!

Actually, once you got used to it it was fun. I was delirious in my very last exam before graduating. I had two days to prepare, but I let go of the angst and performed the best I ever had in my exams. If I wasn't top of the class for that module, then I was definitely top 3 percent. It was a prime example of the life lesson of not hanging on so tight and having fun.

Anyway, the school system in the UK easily prepares kids from at least 14 years old for these types of rigorous end-of-year, all-or-nothing, essay style examinations. Not so much in the US public school system. Multiple choice abracadabra doesn't cut it. The UK accepts US high school diplomas now, but they have to have four AP classes with As. I got in through a different route, so I can't say if this truly prepares one for the essay based exams.

In the end, this investigation lead me to home schooling and the increased popularity of a classics education / curriculum– of which I am a huge fan. Even with the learning of Latin and optional religious perspective. (I'm not religious but I am spiritual and I have an open minded and there are some good concepts and universal takeaways). The education style is inline with the logic and reason one needs at university, and life! Critical thinking as it were with socratic like engagement instead of passive listening and regurgitating facts from rote memorization– no thank you! (The US public system never worked for me. At all! (However, this past inquiry shows that there are many options out there now that didn't exist in my day in the US, like the International Baccalaureate (which is an excellent option for US students as it gets them into international universities).

So, now I'm jonesing to learn something. And as much as I'd love to go to university and study the Classics, this inquiry has gotten me to question what's really fired me up on this subject. Will this new obsession for the classics be entertained? I don't think so. Learning Latin right now is really not going to practical. Could it help my writing absolutely– Latin based words make up 25-90% of the English language, the 90% is for those medical, legal, and science based subjects. I'm not at a position to learn something for fun. Although we should always have fun while we are learning. But this leads to the practical side of self-teaching and that we should always engage in. And we need not incur debt to do it. Read and apply immediately. Learn from the outcomes. Make any adjustments and try again. Washington and Lincoln did it. Good enough for them, good enough for me.

So set that goal. Self-educate through reading, and engage in conversation with those who know. Then, apply and practice. Eventually the experience will come and you're now in your new life. Have fun! Who knows maybe one day we'll see you in Office or in that band or orchestra or on that marine biology expedition.