Education And Pineapples

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Education is hailed as an extremely important area. Many view it as a way to end poverty for certain families. Some make a business out of it since families are willing to pay a high price to equip their children with every possible edge to get them ahead. Many buy into the idea that education is not only the great equalizer, but a secret weapon of some sort to get people ahead in life.

However, with each passing year, as more and more students graduate high school and college, I do wonder.. Is it enough? It seems as if education has over the years transformed into an experience that you have to go through. Somewhat like getting into a fist fight or even falling from a bicycle. It has lost its meaning from being a learning experience. In fact, all this can be linked to the story of the pineapple.

Back When It Was Rare...

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If you look into the history of the pineapple, you will find that when it has a fascinating story. When it was first discovered by Christopher Columbus, pineapples quickly became a symbol of power, wealth and prestige among the rich and powerful . The fruit was tasty, but it was its scarcity and rarity that made it so desirable. The fruit was even rented out to be displayed at dinner parties until it rots away.

Pineapples were incredibly difficult to come by due to the lack of refrigeration, so it was more than likely to spoil in transit. However, a small group of very wealthy elites were able to build glass houses to grow pineapples. In many ways, this is similar to education. It wasn't that long ago when education was a privilege, reserved only for royalty and those who are wealthy enough to afford it. Much like pineapples, education was not meant for all.

However, much like the invention of refrigeration and the many many pineapple plantations that sprung up throughout the world to meet its demand, pineapple slowly lost its appeal. It wasn't long before it became common to see pineapples being sold. The same can be said about education, as more funding was poured into education, it started to lose its prestige.

We Can Do So Much More

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Even when education has lost its prestige, it has moved into something akin to mass production. Students are sent to school, educated and as they leave school, they are given a piece of paper certifying their qualifications. This is no different from the mass production of pineapples. With the many plantations and methods to increase the yield of the fruit, there is an over-excess of the fruit.

To deal with this, many have sought to transform pineapple into other products, such as jams, sweets and many more. That has happened to education but only to a certain extent. Education has remained largely unchanged after so many years. Sure, we do have some new techniques and tools to boost acquisition of knowledge, but just like boosting the yield of pineapple production, application of knowledge and creativity is lacking. An example is seen in what we learn in school. We may be able to apply what we learn in exams but how well are we able to use it other situations? In other words, the knowledge learnt may not be enough to help prepare us for the uncertain future that we may face.

Perhaps we should look to the different products that pineapple has been made into and see how we can implement education in other areas aside from school. We could implement education on the blockchain or even on Steemit. It is unheard of but certainly not impossible. Education should be done out of school, converted into different products and implemented in different mediums. You don't have to pick up skills just from reading and until we recognize it, we may be stuck with the same principles and techniques in education.

Moving forward

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However, even after we have managed to revolutionize how education is delivered, we still have to move forward. Education may be the great equalizer, but lets be realistic, with so many having degrees and some sort of education, education is not the competitive edge anymore. To move forward, it takes more than a certificate. The edge that we all seek comes from within. It is all about the attitude.

It may take longer to be on equal footing with someone who have graduated from a good school, but attitude matters. This consist of the drive to achieve more, to never be contented with being mediocre and striving to be better. It comes from the slave driver in you, the one that forces you to hustle, study harder, study wider or even write everyday on Steemit.

This in my opinion is the edge that we should all strive for, which consists of an education and an attitude to achieve excellence tenaciously. As for pineapples, maybe we will move into making a bio-fuel out of it, but until that day comes, education does not guarantee success. To succeed, it takes a great attitude first as well.

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