An Unusual Path To Learning
I’ve been asked the following questions many times in my life:
- How do you know so much about so many topics?
- How did you get so smart?
- Where does your love of reading and learning come from?
- How did you learn how to speak so eloquently in front of crowds?
I can link the answers to many of those questions to an unusual place: being raised as a Jehovah’s Witness.
I remember being taught to read from my mom reading me ‘The Book of Bible Stories’ and then asking me to read with her from around age 3. I think I encountered many tough words to pronounciate and even though I have a stutter for much of my childhood, I learned to sound my way through words and different patterns.
Why was I so motivated to read?
Well, on Sundays during the second hour at the Kingdom Hall, we read through a magazine that has 20 or so questions that had to be answered by the audience. Even as I kid, I knew that if I could answer those questions clearly, I would get a lot of love, attention, and affection for kids and adults alike. There was a three-step process:
- First, you had to study so that you found the answer that was in the article
- Second, you had to have to courage to raise your hand and the patience to wait to be called on if you got missed by the moderator
- Third, you had to articulate the answer well and quickly, or else the moderator moved on to someone else
The preparation and lessons learned here applied to how I approached many things later in life, including:
- Knowing the value of preparation
- Not being intimidated to say something, even in front of knowledgeable adults
- Not giving up if I didn’t get recognized on the first try
- Making my point, whether I am first to speak or have to adapt because I get to speak later on a topic and can’t use all of my original points
- How to command an audience and a room
I would say it’s never too late to invest in your comfort and ability to do these things. I was fortunate to have structure early on in life that naturally supported this development.
I would love to hear about other unusual roads to living and learning. Everyone’s story is unique and deserves to be told.