Importance of Life Long Learning, a student perspective.

One thing I learn from ‘Rich Dad; Poor Dad,’ as well as from internships and the working world as a whole, was the important of lifelong learning, and with that comes the importance of skill acquisition. How many people in today’s age will need to at some point in their lives change career? The fast pace world we live in if anything confirms that it will be multiple, if not once. Warren Buffet famously talked about the biggest investment in life being the education we give to ourselves, and as such I find that discussing this to be an important matter.

As part of my Psychology degree for example, I do not just learn about the human mind and behaviour. I also learn about statistics, economics, history, sociology, research methodology, science in general, philosophy…The list goes on. I can even learn coding through working as an assistant researcher in a lab. And this is not simply Psychology where it’s common to learn about a multitude of other disciplines, everything is interconnected and as such skill acquisition and knowledge generally is important.

If a student can learn about transferable skills like coding and statistical analysis, along with their degree, and other soft skills it only further equips them for the working world after their degree. The same can be said for apprentices, and for people already in jobs whether blue or white-collared. You can only help yourself, and society at large by learning more skills throughout your lifetime, and by building your knowledge around different disciplines and areas.

Looking away from the business, financial and career focused advantages of skill and knowledge acquisition (life-long learning) is the fulfilment of pursuing active hobbies. By using your spare time to learn new skills like coding, learning a new language, or playing an instrument, amongst other skills, we are doing something to build up our skillset which in turn helps build a healthy self-esteem where we can say we are capable at a range of different things. Having interesting hobbies can also help build networks of people who also know how to code, or to play an instrument, or know French, or Italian, and so forth…

The dividends pay off tenfold in lifelong learning.

I hope this inspires you to start to learn a new skill, or about a subject matter within your field that will pay off for your future self.