Life of learning

When I graduated I heard the classic convocation speech… learning does not end with school but is the end of the beginning. I surely felt… ok so I am on my way to graduate school, I got it. Two more years and I will be done for sure. Finally! Then I heard it again at the end of my graduate degree and I felt how could that be? I started my first job a highly reputed organization and when it was time to move on I reflected on all the new things I learned and I was amazed. The second time the economy turned sour and I was let go before I could exit. But I continued my reflection only to realize my learning continued, I had made strides both professionally, personally, made great friends for life and stepped on numerous toes. I entered into a business and was very successful; I realized the lack of a structured development program and started to acquire codified knowledge from texts, journals and professional interaction. But the learning continued! I acquired tacit knowledge from my hands on work and felt enriched! It was time for a change again. I worked at another company and my growth accelerated far surpassing my peers… I wondered what could have caused it? There had been areas where I had refined and enriched myself through the acquisition of codified knowledge that it felt unusual to relive the readings and writing from literature I had read and assimilated. Codified knowledge is no replacement for tacit hands on learning but it is a good start! Without adequate the tacit knowledge codified learning is like reading the word “hot” but not knowing what “hot” really feels like. In essence learning continued. I am not sure I understood what it meant when I heard those words… learning does not end with school but is the end of the beginning. I do believe it has been a life of learning.