I’ve always wondered if formal education really was THAT important. I’ve met many people who only finished high school, but were amazingly interesting and seemed to be doing fine, so I started doing some research to find out what exactly the positive effects that education has on us as individuals are. Here’s what I’ve learned.
It boosts self-confidence
People will always respect an educated person and will usually want to spend time talking to you if you’ve got a degree in any field. This is probably due to all the books you have to read to graduate and the eloquence you gain by doing that. Plus, educated people tend to be higher ranked in society, with more job opportunities and hence more financial success.
However, it’s not only about others perceive you. Knowing how much time and effort you had to put into your education can make you proud of yourself and how much you’ve achieved. When your confidence is based on your own opinion and feeling of self-worth, rather than the opinion of other people, you will be less likely to lose it along the way.
It improves your learning skills
If you want to advance in life and society in general, you need to be ready to learn and broaden your knowledge and your personality all the time. Taking new information and turning it into practical skills is an art for which you have to work, and which is more easily developed if you went through your studies successfully.
Taking notes and creating your own study materials is helpful for this process, although there are always ways to make this less complicated. For example, if you’re Australian, you can find amazing notes for Melbourne Uni past exams online and study from those if your notes aren’t organized or comprehensive enough. The most important thing is to be able to extract the most important pieces of information from those notes and then know how to use them.
It promotes your personal growth
Education, and not just the formal one, can help you develop by allowing you to ask any question and have it answered so that you can gather new and impartial information, expand your professional and general knowledge and widen your horizons. This doesn’t only happen in the classroom, but also outside it, through contact with other people, countries and cultures, as well as through reading classic literature and even watching quality documentaries about various phenomena or, for instance, historical events.
It helps maintain good health
Whatever field of study you choose for yourself, through receiving education, you will also learn what’s healthy for you and what isn’t. The more you read, the more research you do on any topic and the more people you talk to, the more you will know about your body, the processes in it, health in general and what you need to do to maintain it.
You will be more aware of what food is good for you, so that you can keep your diet healthy and balanced, as well as how to be physically active to stay fit, without putting too much stress on your body. You will be able to use your common judgement to lower the risk of some frequent illnesses and conditions to enhance your productivity and avoid stress and anxiety.
It increases your finances
Jobs that require you to have a college degree usually get paid better and more often than not give you the opportunity to advance within the company you work for. Having a diploma also provides you with more employment options than having a high-school degree.
Even if you had to find a job right after high school, talk to somebody in your HR department and find out how your status and salary would improve if you started studying now and got a degree after a while. If formal education can get you your dream home and the exotic vacations you yearn for, there’s no reason to wait any longer.
Learning has many benefits, so no matter your age, gender or financial situation, stay young and sharp by always learning new things and seeking more from life.f
