As The Seasons Pass, Change Will Come.

It is hard to believe that summer has swung around once again. It seems just like yesterday that I was fighting with the bitter cold, and in dire circumstances with my back and my ability to get a passing grade in a class that I felt for certain I would never be able to grasp its concepts. As it turns out I was able to gain the understanding needed to pass what I would have to say was the most difficult course of study that I have ever taken. It may be considered a class not worthy of something similar that an electrical engineer might take, but it is my whole hearted belief that what our little junior college list as, concepts of DC current is in fact just as hard as what a third year engineering student would learn. I am equally certain that, concepts of AC current are as comprehensive as any four year college class with the same subject matter and lab assignments.

Well I suppose that’s not really what I want to talk about in this post. The thing is, I haven’t been writing and for anyone who either keeps up with me or happens along and wonders why there was such a long period of time where my blog went dry, well now you have an idea of what I’ve been doing. Before I do go on and write a little something that’s on my mind, I would like to acknowledge the recent passing of a great human being. I never met the man personally, though my father knew him from his days as the captain of the UCLA track team and one year as a student coach. If you haven’t guessed who I’m talking about, then let me just say this; coach John Wooden of the UCLA men’s basketball program was much more than a ten times NCAA champion, coach Wooden was and still is one of the most influential people in the world of sports, faith, and a shining example of what it means to be great at all of those and still be as humble as any human could possibly be. I am sure there are people out there that knew him better than I could possibly imagine, and there are much better writers out there that can tell you more about the man and his legacy. What I can tell you is this, for a man that lived to be almost a hundred years old (1910-2010) he probably touched more lives with the power of positive energy, either directly or indirectly, than any mortal man has in a very long time. As I spent this past week watching the women’s World Series of softball, I couldn’t help thinking that the lady Bruin’s had a watchful eye looking over them as they went on to win their eleventh NCAA Championship, while setting new school and softball World Series records, just days after someone they called their mentor, passed away.

More information about the man, his philosophy, and the legacy left behind can be found here.





So far I have talked about my own troubles with school, and I have given tribute to a man that did more for the sporting world than any other person in modern sports. Now I would like to talk about something that has been on my mind and rather try and hold on to something that might change the way in which we learn things in the future, I have decided to share some of my ideas as best as I can. I guess it all started when I found myself in what appeared to be in a hole that was too deep for me to get out. Now I do owe a great amount of gratitude to my professors that helped me to succeed, by not letting me quit when that seemed like the only way out. By forcing me to face my own daemons, in a matter of speaking, they showed me that even with my disabilities, I was able to overcome them because up until that point, I was getting it and my only real disability to learning was myself.

So once the semester was over and I had regained my confidence, I began to think of other ways in which I might be able to learn. Now this isn’t a new idea, people have been trying for years to accomplish this goal. However, I began to look at it from a different perspective, instead of trying to make things easier to learn, why not make it harder, and while at the same time make it more fun, more challenging? Instead of teaching everyone at the same pace, make learning look and feel more like an interactive video game. Quite honestly I would like to see a Community College like the one I attend, work in conjunction with one or more of the major universities, along with our advisory committee which is made up of local businesses, and especially get the elementarily level schools involved. From kindergarten to high school because that is where public education begins.

I realize I am proposing a radical change in the way people learn, but if something isn’t done then this country, the country that sent men to the moon without calculators, a nation that once lead the world in inventions by such a large margin no one would ever think that would go by the waste side. A country that has been called the melting pot of the world, for its diversity in culture, and now we have become one of the least liked countries in the world, a country that for so long has relied on the ingenuity of its citizens and the industrial might of the leading corporations to make us one of the strongest, diversified, and leading nations in modern history. So when I say that my idea is worth considering, I would think that the really smart people who are looking for change would at least want to know more about it. I certainly hope that it’s still possible to have a dream and have it become reality. Of course I don’t have all the solutions, but that’s exactly why I have put the question out there. More details about my ideas to come in future post.