“The strength of the United States is not the gold at Fort Knox or the weapons of mass destruction that we have, but the sum total of the education and the character of our people.”

Senator Claiborne Pell, Rhode Island, 1961-1997

One of my biggest regrets in life is that I didn’t take my education more seriously. In fact, it didn’t become a factor at all until I became a mother myself – funny how that works.

Now, as my older children prepare to return to school (one more anxious than the other), I consider it a top priority to guide them towards an appreciation of learning. I hope to instill in them more than retention of facts, but the ability to construct those facts into ideas and new creations.

As one who has recently returned to college, I am excited about learning new things in a different way. However, in this adventure, I realize how much I have already learned through those around me.  The life of a learner doesn’t start and stop within the confines of a building or a semester schedule.  It is a continual cycle of being taught and then teaching others.

Imagine the possibilities when these two habits are adopted. Our abilities and understanding grow with exposure to new things learned. Then that growth multiples and gives back when we turn around and offer what we know to somebody else.