Life lessons from school days

With summer wrapping up, many people are going back to school. While in school you learned a lot about math, science, English and the traditional subjects. These served you well in many ways but there are probably some life lessons that you learned along the way that have stuck with you for a lifetime. Philosopher Tom Bodett says, “The difference between school and life? In school they teach you a lesson and give you a test. In life, they give you a test that teaches you a lesson.” What are some of the life lessons you learned from your school days?

When I asked Doug that question he replied, “One of the earliest lessons I recall was when I was in first grade. We lived in a farming community. The way I, and the other farm kids in our area, got to school was by riding in the back of a pickup truck while sitting on milk stools. That type of transportation would not be allowed now! It wasn’t so bad in the spring and fall but it was really cold during the winter! I thought that was a ‘normal’ way to get to school because I didn’t know anything different. I learned several lessons from that. One was ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ and the other was being able to adapt to the circumstances of the time.”

Then Doug asked me to share. I (Lynn) mentioned one life lesson from high school. I hated to miss school but one day I stayed home because I wasn’t feeling well. After school, my fellow classmates called to tell me it was good I wasn’t in school that day because the plaster ceiling crashed down on my desk and I could have been seriously injured. My life lesson is that sometimes what you think is a negative incident in your life can actually turn out to be a blessing.

We went to find out from others what life lessons they had learned while they were in school.

We met Dave Schultz who was at Lake Ann Park. When asked what life lesson he could share from his school days he replied, “I had somewhat of a curmudgeon of an English teacher and he was very strict with us. I learned a lesson that even though I did not enjoy the class to begin with, I learned to enjoy it. I benefitted from being an excellent speller and my grammar skills are very well. That has helped me in the course of my business life and on from there. That was a good life lesson for me.” It paid off for Dave to “hang in there” for the class and he agreed it was certainly worth it.

Then we met Eileen Piper, from Chanhassen, and asked her about her life lessons. She said “I bounced around quite a bit in elementary, middle school and early high school years due to some family discord. Ultimately, I left home when I was fifteen and became a live-in housekeeper and childcare provider. While I was away from home, I went to a very elite school and honestly, I was a very good student but didn’t have any money. I think the biggest lesson I learned from that experience was that it was ok not to fit in as long as I was ok with not fitting in.” I told Eileen I felt that’s an important lesson. “From there, I went on to graduate number one from my high school class and won a full academic scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I think the first thing I learned when I went to college was that there were a lot of different kinds of people in the world. I had always kind of gone along through life thinking that pretty much everybody was kind of like me. When I got to Carolina, I thought, wow, there are all different kinds of people here. Believe it or not, that was a big life lesson. Another lesson I learned was that some of the closest friends you’ll have, will be the ones you make in college.”

The people we talked to shared valuable life lessons and we feel one lesson they each had was to persevere. What about you, what life lessons from school days do you have?

Here’s a challenge: We encourage you to reflect on the past to discover life lessons you learned during your school days. Then write them down so you will have them as precious memories to share with family and friends for them to also enjoy.

Chanhassen residents Doug and Lynn Nodland are Success Coaches and owners of The Balance Center. Contact Doug and Lynn at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2017 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.