#30daychallenge day 20: how important is education?

obviously, education's pretty important. quite important. rather important. very important. sort of important.

i could take this blog the way of looking at how important the government (or, future government, yikes) thinks education is, but frankly, i'm pretty politicked out right now, and have another week of frantic electioneering to get through/avoid as much as humanly possible, so i'm going another way with this.

i've been thinking a bit about the hierarchy of education in our lives. by this i mean the ways in which we value a person's education; how we decide someone is smart; how we measure ourselves. i'd like to acknowledge that i'm writing from a priviledged white perspective; obviously even within australia there are huge discrepancies between socioeconomic groups, and differences of heritage etc at play. i'm speaking from a pretty comfy point of view, and i know it.

i am lucky enough to have a Bachelor of Arts; i am lucky enough to be able to undertake a Masters while i continue to work. all through school, i did quite well; i was lucky enough to fit into the education system as it stood at the time. i know that for a lot of people, the education system is not really a happy thing; school is just a period in time to survive before you get out into the world and start your real life. of course, i've been thinking about school, and what it sets you up for, and what you do with your life afterwards because tonight is my 10 year high school reunion. 10 years after the fact, everyone will have gone their own way, some to university like me, some to apprenticeships, traineeships, parenthood, starting their own businesses, some have traveled and/or are still traveling. one notable laila is doing her PhD- not many people can brag that level of ability!

for a while there, the most important thing for me was to get to university; it was a driving factor and a focus upon which to motivate myself through end of school exams. i wouldn't do it any other way; i think i always knew that my final mark would be relevant for all of the 10 seconds it took me to get into uni with it, then it became irrelevant. your school mark is not you, or representative of your future life's success.

and i loved my BA, every minute of its decadence; learning just for the sake of learning; feeling your brain expand with each wonderful fact. it widened the world for me; it introduced me to feminism. it gave weight and justification to consuming countless coffees, debating endless points of politics and history, dressing the part with opshop chic, working at a pub on the weekends. outside of uni, life was a little on the rough side for me, but at uni, learning, i was enthralled. again, i think i always knew that my BA wouldn't open the world of extremely well paid work to me; there were not piles of letters offering dream jobs awaiting me out in the Real World. but it didn't matter; those years will always be golden. they helped make me who i am now.

of course, i am in awe of those who make a career of academia; that's another direction i might have taken if i had a longer attention span and an idea actually worthy of a thesis. still, i maintain that long after the facts and figures of a PhD have blurred, the other skills you learn from the simple situation of dedicated study are there with you for life- they are your tangible, take-away education.

and now, let me get to the point of this post; my formal education, the actual things i learned, are pretty long gone. what i got from that experience was a different sort of education quite apart from facts, and so what i really believe is important, as an education, are the things you do in your life that force you to grow and change. my life's education has been the people i've met and the places i've seen. it's been my highschool years and my BA, but it's also been moving to canada; it's been learning to snowboard; it's been a long-distance relationship that failed; it's been my quiet and peaceful life in the here and now, where i get to write, work, study, collect thrifted clothing and drink over-priced bourbon.

life is an education, and so it's unavoidable, to a degree (geddit?!). all those folk i'll meet again tonight, some for the first time in 10 years, have gained their 10 years of education in all manner of places, i don't doubt.

the important part, i think, is the part where we grow and change. it's how we grow, and how we change, that counts. the important part is that it happens. whether you fight it or not, you're still having that education shoved in your face.

so choose to learn.

secret: top ten reasons to attend your upcoming highschool reunion

Recently, I've bumped into a few people around town who I know from highschool days. Each time, I bring up the reunion and sadly there is very little in the way of enthusiasm as a response.

So I thought I'd break it down into 10 simple reasons in the hope that a few more of us will show for what might potentially be an awesome night!

1. Sure, you've kept in touch with your friends from highschool, but what about everyone else? Aren't you curious to know who's become a movie star, a real estate mogul, a corporate high-flyer? There are people I barely knew in highschool who I'd be very interested to hear about.

2. See who got fat, who got fit, who had kids, who got married, who got together, who split up. This one is basic human nature; there's bound to be a few surprises. Find them out first-hand if you attend the reunion!

3. Victory. Did you get bullied in highschool? Firstly, take a minute to be glad we didn't have Facebook yet (I hear that shit's nasty as far as bullying goes), then think about how good it is going to feel to march in there as a successful adult and most likely have your childhood bully be perfectly civil and adult to you. 10 years is enough time for the assholes to grow up, learn their lesson (I believe in karma, most definitely) and probably hold down a polite conversation. It'll feel great! Personal development!

4. Check in on your random highschool crush. There's always one person you thought was cute who didn't move in your social circles. What if they got more attractive and are single and you're now just their type? We're having a reunion at a pub; social lubrication plus attraction plus novelty value may potentially equal love, marriage, and something to show off at the 20 year reunion.

5. People are still doing awesome things. At 27-28, some of us have settled down, but some people are still travelling, studying, partying and who knows what else. Maybe a conversation with that guy who sat next to you in rolecall will inspire you to visit Mongolia, South America, Scotland. Maybe it will reassure you that you haven't missed anything. Maybe it will help you feel less anxious about the fact you haven't actually got it figured out yet.

6. We're all in this together. Everyone I've spoken to about the reunion, whether attending or no, has expressed their doubts and nerves about the event. We all find the idea of hanging out with people who saw us at our daggiest, most clueless and puberty-fueled to be anxiety-inducing. We all find it a bit weird- there's no-one marching into this who thinks they're the boss of everything.

7. There will be alcohol. You don't have to face these people completely sober if you don't want to.

8. Maybe you'll actually make a new friend. Personally, I hope to make contact with a few folk currently living in town. I live here at the moment, and have gradually caught up with a few of the Class of 2003 who are also living in our hometown. Unless you make a habit of hanging out at the supermarket or going out every weekend (neither of which I can afford to do), it's hard to run into people you know. Best to get them all in a confined space and demand their friendship. Every person I have run into from the mystical past of highschool has been friendly, even though they weren't in my immediate circle of friends. We've all had our different adventures but it's nice to compare notes. I think, from the small sampling I've enjoyed, that we're all pretty cool, really.

9. You get to hang out with your friends. Even though I keep in touch with highschool friends through various social media and also sometimes via text message, they all live in other places and I don't get to see them that often. You're all spread between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, and it would be nice if you came back to town for the weekend to catch up! I'm hoping to see these people outside of the organised events too, and not stand about in little groups of people who you know well and possibly also live or work with once we're at the pub. Still, it will be nice to know you're there as a safety net.

10. Who doesn't like parties? If thinking about who will be there and what they'll think of you is too much, just consider it as another night out at the pub. That's a whole lot of strangers; these people have braved their nerves too and want to have a good time. So they're friendly and approachable strangers, which are my personal favourite kind.

I hope I've been somewhat convincing - I was on the fence about this idea at first, but really, it just has so much potential, and don't forget the novelty value. These only come up once every ten years!

I really hope I get to see as many of you as possible there, I'm looking forward to meeting you all again as an adult, remembering that Facebook is not representative of a whole life, and sometimes it's good to hang out with humans. So I'll see you soon- make sure you say hello!

treasure: melbourne

in 2004, the year after i finished my HSC, i got the hell out of armidale and moved to melbourne. melbourne held the promise of adulthood, change and challenge, the glamour of artists and poets and philosophers.

i was there 5 and a half years. there's plenty to reflect upon, but i found it very telling the past few times around, visiting after having left 3.5 years ago, how i felt about the beloved city and the people in it that i saw.

perhaps it's just that i've distilled my friendship group into the Very Best of Melbourne. perhaps it's that the buzz of city has finally become exciting again; full of promised inspiration and movement and sparkle. it's nice to visit a city and already know your way around; your favourite bar; your favourite dish at tom phat; the ways of the trams.

i had a beautiful time. during my 'just-home' tour of july 2012, i hung out at beth's house and we sat on the upstairs balcony and enjoyed winter sunshine and the ambient sounds of deconstruction, as the old Royal Children's got unceremoniously trashed by a wrecking crew. i drank at Bar Etiqette, hung about at the bar and giggled happily at yanni and mikey's antics, marvelled at the crowds and the hipster population. i met friends and missed friends, filled with generosity of people who'd only had facebook as a means of following about what i'm certain seemed like a very silly and decadent life of snow and drinking. they bought me drinks, they let me stay, they asked good questions (some people, none of whom i am good friends with, have nothing in the way of curiosity or comment about your recently different lifestyle. they have nothing to say and nothing to ask and it's all very awkward and boring).

aaron and i have recently returned from the 'everyone meet my boyfriend' tour of early 2013 and yup, i still love melbourne. despite the heat i drank plenty of coffee, cottoning onto the concept of iced coffee on saturday morning for a win. i took him on a tour of what i think of as my Melbourne, with a bit of shopping, a few bookstores, some very good eating and this time round i could afford $18 cocktails, so we had some of those too. we hung out with iggy, the coolest kid i know, we feasted on indian and thai with mat and tash, i drank ciders at bar etiquette with beth, sylvia and laura, which turned into a bottle of wine each at Gurkha's Nepalese next door to the bar.

there was a lovely picnic in carlton gardens and some attempted frisbee by joe and laila, picnic rug fun with thea (and amazing gluten free passionfruit melting moments), wine, cheese, smoked salmon and olive tapenade from the Queen Vic Markets.

 
there was a 44 degree day where we stayed inside, windowshopping our way up the 4 levels of Melbourne Central where i bought 4 dresses for $140 (what a bargain!). we perused fed square's NGV bookstore longingly, scoffed a big pile of dumplings at Shanghai Dumpling House in Chinatown, saw some great graffiti and biggest bonus of all, got to drive mat & tash's mercedes benz about the place, feeling like a pretty big deal as we cruised around with a breeze blowing through our hair and a devil-may-care attitude.

it is The Life, Melbourne, and i hope one day i will have the chance to live there again- i feel as though all the things that pushed me away from it and into the arms of a willing whistler are manageable, and that perhaps there is more for me there that i have no yet discovered. perhaps i'll  do a phd at University of Melbourne one day, perhaps i'll only ever visit for holidays from now on...

it might be far away but it's never forgotten.

#fmsphotoadaynovember 9. small

 

many of the pictures i put on instagram are of drinks. i think photos of drinks are artistic and basically, they're where it's at.

this was a small (#small) cider that hugh poured me at red brick hotel in brisbane. we went there for a hiphop festival, having first the happy opportunity to see friends from whistler who have since moved back to spots all over australia. we drank some things, we ate some things, we caught up. it was quite a nice time.

i guess though, this photo really reminds me of that feeling of excitement you get right before you see good friends you haven't caught up with in a long time, or even just a while. because i'm a little bit uncool this way, i tend to be at places bang on or before the time we'd organised to meet. that night, for instance, i do believe we arrived at 6:28 for a 6:30 meeting. the boys, however, being boys, dragged their pants on and mosey'd on down by maybe 7:15. all of the them separately texted me to ask if it was ok for them to wear thongs to this particular establishment.

my relative earliness meant i got to sip on the above cider, while building up quite the bubble of reunion-based excitement. and i was not disappointed. everyone was happy to see each other, and soon we were all filled full of drinks and pub meals, telling tales of things much more expressively than they actually happened. hugh was there to take away our empty plates and fill up our glasses.

it was a nice time.