Where Learning Takes Place

Learning is a vital part of everyone's life. While most believe that learning only takes place only in school through the use of books, tests and lectures, I propose that much learning also takes place outside the classroom. While in the classroom a lot is discovered, it is outside that environment that it becomes all the more applicable.

Case in point: Participating in a REACH Work Camp mission trip in Niagara, NY., I had the task of repairing the home of a single mother family in need. It was there that I was put with a team of students and leaders from six states. Beginning as strangers, we became part of a close working team with common goals and developed an unbreakable relationship by the end of the week. It was here that much of the knowledge learned in school as well as construction labor skills became applicable, especially social skills and a strong work ethic.

The vital learning that is done in the classroom is not fully developed until it is utilized and developed outside the classroom. While people constantly speak of education as so valuable, I wonder why they stop there. It is only truly valuable when it is taken beyond the walls of the classroom and used for the benefit of others.

-Benjamin Marasco