I Love Learning

From some of my previous posts some of you might remember that I'm taking classes to earn a certificate in copyediting. I can honestly say, without one iota of smugness, that words are my forte. The last installment of my background story told you that I practically lived at the library during summer vacation. Books were my escape to new and interesting places. Because I love words so much, I decided to steer my education in that direction a bit to try to incorporate my love of words into my life's work.

Last night I had a class, and the first part of the class was spent in the library putting together information for a five-minute presentation. I have a knack for gathering material and synthesizing it so that the necessary points are presented, yet it's not dull and dry. I'll touch on this in my next installment of my background, but I've always been a shy person. As I've gone out and done different things and taken more chances, that shyness has abated, but it's still there. Once upon a time I would've hated standing in front of a group of people I didn't know and talking about something they might not be interested in, but now I'm okay with it. I'm actually more than okay with it. I like it.

The title of this post is I Love Learning, but it doesn't only refer to learning in a classroom setting. Everything I do and every person I meet is an opportunity for me to learn something new. It may sound strange, but I like knowing stuff. The old Schoolhouse Rock shorts said that knowledge is power and I definitely believe it.

What are People Teaching Their Children?

There are so many people that believe that racism is a relic of the past, but if you live in the Deep South, you know better. My niece, who lives in Georgia, is in the 5th grade and has been called a "nigger" more times in this school year than I was called the whole time I was in elementary school. The election of Barack Obama was seen as a step forward, but we seem to be moving backward. My niece's class is doing a project and she was put in a group with 2 other girls. While riding the bus home, she asked 1 of the girls if she wanted to come over to her house to work on the project. The girl's response was "I don't want to come over to your house because you and your grandparents are nothing but black niggers." Now what kind of response is that to an invitation to come over and work on a school project?!