For the love of learning:We should learn to learn, not for the grade

Becky Swig | Editor-in-Chief

One of my teachers coined the phrase, “for the love of learning,” at the beginning of this year and I thought that it was such a great way to kick off the class. I loved how his philosophy was to engage students in the classroom. He wanted us to be excited to learn and for us to want to learn.

School should be about being interested in what we are learning and not about just getting the A on the test. There is so much pressure in high school to just sit in class and retain as much material so that we can get the best grade possible. This type of learning is not ideal for any student – we should be wanting to learn, not learning to get a grade.

Being in such an academically challenging school, there are a lot of pressures surrounding students. Getting in to the perfect college, performing better than our peers, pleasing our parents, etc. all put pressure to get a 4.0, which is a challenge for students, especially when academics are not the only focus in our lives. Balancing sports, arts, academics, a social life, and everything else in life does not lend itself to learning to learn. It makes us learn to memorize, learn to get a good grade.

I treasure the classes where I walk in and am excited to learn. The best days are when I have those classes, and I dread the days that don’t. What motivates me to actually do my work and study is the passion that drives what I am studying. Of course I do my work and study in the classes that I don’t love, but I do more work for the ones I do.

“For the love of learning” truly pushes me to be a better student. I encourage students to take classes that they are interested in rather than a class that will “look good.” It is better to enjoy what you study than to hate going to class everyday. Learn to learn. Not to just get an A. Getting a good grade will result from loving the subject.