Danielle Agugliaro, Staff Editor
A year ago if someone asked me what is more important: education or experience? I probably would have responded that getting a good education is the keystone to success. Today however, I could not think more differently. I was always taught that education in the classroom is where you learn all the information you need to get through life, but the knowledge you get from being fully surrounded by something and really trying it is invaluable. Even star students who have memorized their textbooks from cover to cover could not possibly have the skill, confidence, and experience that being out in the field gives you.
My opinion has been changed so drastically because around a year ago I applied for my internship at Threads magazine, The Taunton Press. Immediately when I started I was thrown right into the corporate world with no prior experience and not much I learned in school to help me. It was a whole new type of learning and instantly I could feel the difference. I would make mistakes sometimes, but even though it sounds cliché it really is what helped me learn best. Being on my own and not having someone guiding me actually ended up being the most important part. I learned independence, I learned about taking responsibility for my actions like when I accidentally sent finished garments to the wrong address and had to be carbon copied on every painstaking email. Despite any of my embarrassing mistakes, I wouldn’t trade this experiential knowledge for anything. Trust me, I have never sent anything to the wrong address again, the emails still haunt me. Now when I hear other seniors worrying about being out on their own next year I find myself completely ready; I owe most of that to my internship.
Most agree that a combination of real world experience and classroom learning is the ideal situation. However people have different opinions on how much of each, and when in life it is most necessary.
“I think that it’s a combination of things. I say the more specialized and the more technical, the more school relates directly, but it’s still not 100%. As the job becomes less technical it becomes more what you learn on the job. In that case school really just builds up your intrinsic things like your ability to problem solve and frankly prove that you can learn,” Rich Giacin, NHS math teacher, explained, “Like your success at school is, ‘can this person learn?’ can they work within an organized framework, take on new ideas, follow the rules and get things done on time. Sometimes you just need prove you’re able to learn, everything you’re going to need to do well at that job then you’ll learn on the job.”
Although students have not been thrown into the working world quite yet, they still have opinions on if what they are doing right now is the best kind of learning for them.
“Personally, I had an internship at a birthing center because I want to be a nurse, and I definitely used information I learned in school like using a microscope, but I could have never learned all of these skills just from a class,” NHS senior Anna Baxter said, “I would definitely say a good mix of classroom and real world experience is ideal.”
So what does this mean for our school system? Is classroom and textbook learning not bringing students to their full potential? It’s possible that a system reform should be considered. There are many teachers who do try to engage students and incorporate different styles of learning. But teachers possibly incorporating more hands on real life experience into their lesson plans could benefit students for the rest of their life, and if part of the goal of high school is to prepare us for college then a focus on experience-based learning needs to be seriously considered.
Photo Credit; www.cvplaza.com