Why educate?

When I was younger, I loved the parts in the movie The Testaments when the Savior healed the boy with seizures and made the blind man see.  That’s one of the first times where I know I felt the Spirit.  Something about the Savior helping these people who were in so much pain really moved me.  Because of this, one of the things I love most about the BYU College of Nursing is the emphasis on “Learning the Healer’s art.” 

The Healer’s Art is a multifaceted skill.  Throughout nursing school, we learn how to be there emotionally for someone about to go into surgery; how to hang IV fluids, insert a nasogastric tube, or administer medications; and how to teach a child about their new diagnosis of diabetes.  We learn about the body and how miraculously it works; we also learn how to take care of it when it doesn't work.  It’s pretty fun stuff.

What a blessing it is that as I attend college, I can learn how to become more like the Savior.

But the cool thing is, so does everybody else!

Let’s take engineers for example.  [Yep, Dad.  You trained me well—I listed your folk first!] These creative minds are hired to find new ways to solve problems.  They are inventors:  creating ideas and things that weren’t there before.  If creating the world—mountains, oceans, rivers, fish, elephants, flowers, people—wasn’t inventing, I don’t know what is.

An English major learns how to write and convey ideas to people.  They learn to relate.   The Savior related to people as He told parables and was able to understand the way they think.  Similarly, those in theater and the arts are also able to communicate life experiences in a way that touches us deeply.

We have our high school teachers and our kindergarten teachers.  Our Savior taught hundreds of people according to the way they learn best.  He continues to teach us as we read scriptures and attend church.

Derek’s major is finance.  He is learning to make the most of what money we have and how to help others do the same. (Sorry love, you probably could have made this part a lot cooler than I just did.)  And based on the loaves and fishes, we know that if anyone knows how to make the most of our resources, it’s the Savior. 

So.  As Sister Dalton lovingly reminded us a conference ago, “what e’er thou art, act well thy part.”  Because chances are, whatever you’re doing is pretty important J

Somewhat related:  I read the coolest article on Sunday about how important it is to educate women in our society—even if they “just” become mothers.  While in the workforce one is able to influence hundreds of lives, but what about influencing the next generation?  Mothers have a direct impact and influence on their children and the kind of people they will become.  If we left all higher education to the men, women at home would have so little to provide for their children.  If we decided secondary education was not important for women, why educate them at all?  Do they even need a high school degree?

Anyway, I’m not exactly sure how to end this, but I really think education is important!  It doesn't matter what you study or whether or not you plan on using it for the rest of your life.  And it doesn't even need to be a college education.  But any education and any degree of knowledge we achieve in this life will put us at so much the advantage in the life to come.

So three cheers for education.  Homework is hard, tests are frustrating, and class can be long.  But just like the primary song says, “I’m Trying to be Like Jesus.” And working for our education puts us one step closer to becoming perfected.