Experience as teacher

Common knowledge has it that experience is a good, if not the best, teacher. To this no one seems to disagree. It is indeed a poignant declaration, full of truth and sense.

Does it mean to say that children need not go to school as they may just have to accumulate experiences in life? Of course, not. Schooling is still a must for one to obtain a diploma necessary in applying for jobs. Although experience is oftentimes required by companies, a basic requirement to applicants is a diploma earned from formal education.

The lessons learned from accumulated experiences are not necessarily the ones required by employers. These are what we need in facing real life situations; to make us wise enough; to enhance maturity in us; to enable us to exercise prudence in whatever we do. These are the practical ideas that could make us survive in this confusing and chaotic world.

We may gather all the teachers in the world and, together, let them teach us all the lessons that we need in this life. But the impact of their mentoring would not be as emphatic as the one that experience could provide. Too often, teachers could only educate the mind, but experience teaches both the mind and the heart, resulting in a changed attitude, a renewed spirit, deeper realizations, and accumulation of principles.

What human teachers impart then simply enters one ear but goes out of the other. It doesn’t necessarily linger in one’s memory, unlike the lesson learned from experience, which usually lasts for life. Why, it becomes embedded not just in one’s memory, but also in one’s entire behavior and personality. Years pass, age advances, but this learned principle will endure as a guiding light on one’s path.

Problem with the lessons experience imparts is that, they are not all that pleasant. In fact, these are often drawn from bitter experiences that drown men’s souls to the pit of disillusionments. But the painful the experiences, the better lessons one learns. In these learning sessions, we may go through unimaginable pains; we may suffer a most embarrassing situation; we may lose our names; we may clash with powerful foes; we may experience severe persecution, etc.

But when the cloud of tribulation clears out, the lessons to learn, like precious stones, shine glaringly for our grasp and enjoyment. They are for the taking, and sometimes, we don’t even have to grab them—they storm into our minds, into our hearts, and shape us into a kind of people we ought to become as a result. That’s what experience can offer us. They equip us with weapons in fighting life’s adversaries.

By: Doms Pagliawan

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