What I have learned

By: Bronwyn Huddleson

The first day I walked on campus as a freshman at Purdue University I knew I was going to have the best four years of learning thus far in my life. I was correct.

My freshman year I thought I was learning a lot of new things in my classes. I may have learned a few things in each of my classes, but I realized later on that year that I learned much more outside of the classroom. I didn't enjoy every class I was in freshman year, so of course that made it more difficult to comprehend what was being taught. I would read my books, occasionally, and take notes in class so that I would have material to study for exams, but I started to notice I was not retaining much of what I was taught once the exams had passed. I learned the information temporarily because my interest was not strong enough to keep me motivated in learning the new material. About halfway through freshman year I started to reflect on how my year had been so far and noticed many things I had gone through in that short amount of time that had really started to impact me. I was learning from my experiences. I knew I was starting to develop skills outside of my general education because I was surrounding myself with new situations and different people to learn from. The experiences I endured were impacting the way I learned in the classroom. This continued into my sophomore year, by which time I had changed my major to Photography and Related Media. I was beginning to get more intellectually involved in my classes and really trying to retain everything the professors were teaching me. Even so, I didn't fully comprehend until the beginning of my senior year that I had learned more these last 3 years than any time I spent in school before college. A lot of people seem to think that you go to school just to get an education in the classroom, but there is so much more to it than that. I have been able to take things I learn outside of the classroom, whether it be personal encounters, jobs, activities, tragedies, etc., and relate it to how and what I learn from my professors. Something that I have been taught, maybe subconsciously by myself or by my professors, is that every single moment, every experience, and every conversation teach us more than we realize because majority of the time we are not able to connect those learning experiences with academics. Why is that? I believe that through the right people, we can develop our minds and our ability to comprehend to unspeakable levels. A lot of what I have learned I use everyday unknowingly. The person that I am today is based on the things I have learned in my past, and my goals and ambitions for the present and the future. I feel that I have the power to become anything I want, because I know I can learn anything I want. Thanks to my broad education, my wide networks, and my deep connections with people and areas of study, I have learned more than how to read a book or operate a camera. I have learned what it takes to be something in the world, to make a difference in my life and the lives around me. I have been able to grasp the idea that I learn at least one new thing every single day. My hope is that other people start to realize they are learning more than what the books they read teaches them, and that with everything we learn, we grow. Our minds work endlessly. New experiences and new people promote that work, and I utilize that power daily. Think about all the experiences you have had in the course of your college career, and think about how you can use what you have been taught to grow and to build yourself into something you have always envisioned. New is forever changing, but it is always different. With time comes change, no matter what. The challenge is to take advantage of those changes and make something of yourself. Next time you ponder learning, ask yourself, when was the last time you tried something for the first time?