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Adam Van Deusen

20th March 2009

Mr. Wies

An Extended Definition of Education

Education is not always about big books, planned curriculum, and mind-numbing

assignments at an expensive school. The experiences, and processes that alter how an

individual thinks, that is true education. It is along this rugged path of sometimes

unorganized learning that a person discovers themselves, and the true meaning of life.

Tim O’Brien’s “The Man I Killed”, and Tom Montgomery-Fate’s “Dancing Geckos” both

illustrate how they were educated by an experience in their own lives.

Many experiences allow individuals to endure challenges, and struggle. This

shock of difficulty forces the body and mind to adapt. Adaptation for survival.

Montgomery-Fate‘s “Dancing Geckos” describes a man who steps outside of his comfort

zone into unforeseen territory in hopes of furthering his learning. His standard ways of

teaching and even day to day living became useless in his new environment. Slowly he

learned to observe his surroundings, and become the student instead of the teacher.

I later found a different set of questions to be more helpful: Am I

listening? What do I hear? How can I listen more carefully? Am I watching?

What do I see? I kept watching the geckos, their entropic dashing, their

delicate chaos. I blocked out the lure of the notepad, my list of

potential accomplishments, and focused. (Montgomery-Fate,

179).
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I feel this drastic lifestyle change educates a person in how to change themselves

to accomplish desired goals. As he slowly adapted to his poverty stricken community,

things started to make sense. Day to day life was much easier, and he had grown in both

mind and body. Fate’s students were much different from what he was used to in the

suburbia of the United States. These eager learners valued every second in the classroom

as an opportunity, since they did not know if they’d be able to come the next day or not.

Many people of the United States take for granted the life full of opportunity that they are

presented with. Not to say that each does not face struggles or challenges, but sometimes

people don’t realize how luck they are. Studying abroad in new environment allows you

to see how others live and learn to appreciate your own life. Learning to survive in new

territory is educating oneself to change.

Surviving outside of normality can be a struggle in itself. Tim O’Brien’s “The

Man I Killed” is a self reflection of a soldier’s recent kill on an opposing military force.

O’Brian becomes infatuated with his victim, to the point of recreating who he thought

this soldier was. Both his prey and himself are far away from home, fighting for a higher

cause which they may or may not agree with. Educating themselves in their new territory,

and dealing with the challenges of being away from the norm. O’Brian realizes he could

be the one laying dead in a ditch, instead of the young man, who appeared unfit for

warfare. He reflects on the harshness and brutality of war: “He knew he would die

quickly. He knew he would see a flash of light. He knew he would fall dead and wake up

in the stories of his village and people (O’Brian 377).” Soldiers of all ages fight for

survival, and battle to the death against opposing individuals who they have never met

and may never meet. Death is a permanent state, and life is a valuable one time
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opportunity. It is important to learn this lesson early before it has passed you by.

Education has many forms and faces. A good education can be relative. A lawyer

may value attending Harvard Law as his understanding of a good education. A

cosmetologist may value time spent working at a good salon as a form of good education.

However, you don’t truly learn something until you undergo some type of change and

growth. A child who touches a hot stove, will quickly educate himself on the dangers of

heat in the kitchen. This sudden rush of pain creates a memorable experience in one’s

mind, which took them outside of their comfort zone and out of normality. That same

child will then learn to adapt to the condition, and avoid making the same mistake again.

Thus, he or she has learned something based on sheer accidental experience.

The experiences and processes that alter how an individual thinks, that is

education. A top ten school is not needed to provide a good education. Some of the most

un-wealthy people experience the greatest education. An education on life, growth and

change. Learning to adapt to different situations, based on needs and desires. It is a

process that takes time and individual effort. Everyone must endure struggle to obtain the

results they want. Challenges that push you outside of your comfort zone and into

unknown territory open up doors to furthered education. Opportunity is around us

everyday for a better future, but none of it will come easy. It truly is the survival of the

fittest.

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