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.