Where’d you learn to do that? Is a question I get asked occasionally? Where’d you learn to write Excel formulas? Where’d you learn to do web development? Where’d you learn how to fix your car? How to do woodworking? How to… you get the point.
But this weekend, it was, Where’d you learn how to do floral arranging? as I turned a couple of cheap grocery store bouquets into a boutonniere and two corsages for my son and some friends to wear to prom. And, like many things, the answer wasn’t school… or college, or grad school.
I learned to do floral arranging as a high school student I worked as a delivery driver at the local flower shop. But on Saturdays, when there was a prom or homecoming dance, it was all hands on deck to fill the orders. So, as soon as I finished my deliveries, I jumped in line with four or five middle-aged ladies (all professional florists) to turn a bucket of roses into hundreds of boutonnieres for my peers.
I never took a class. I never thought I’d pursue a career as a florist. And sure, I took a little ribbing from my friends at school, but I cherished the opportunity to learn a skill from some professionals who were happy to offer me a quality (free) education.
But today, I think our culture says we learn the really important things by taking classes at schools that we pay for. I’m not sold. Instead, I’m now looking for opportunities for my kids to have the same kinds of hand-on learning I got as a teenager.
It’s why I took them along a couple of weeks ago to a friend’s woodworking shop while he was helping me teaching me how to build a dining room table. (I’m still learning too.)
And why I jump on the opportunity for them to “help out” on the day when the veterinarian comes to the ranch. Standing all day holding the lead rope while a vet administers vaccinations, inspects hooves, and adjusts teeth of 70 horses, they learn something… lots of somethings.
It’s also why I bought them laptops, which, yes, they sometimes use to play games (my favorite is entanglement). But more often, they use it to take online classes—free classes from Khan Academy, or an extra math class (in addition to the one they do in a classroom) through our state’s online public school.
It’s the kind of education they’d miss if they spent every afternoon in front of the television or playing video games. It’s a quality (free) education… and it’s worth the investment.
