I
find the initial stages of learning confusing. In a physical way that affects
my breathing, my tingling skin, and my wide eyes. Education often does more
filtering than teaching. Levels sort the good from bad, and move on. Searching
for naturals. Searching for the chosen ones. Chosen by fate. Except different
skills are needed in the early stages of gaining skills and knowledge. My
secret power is I am as stubborn as a donkey. I take the next step. In my
Actuarial exams, I was very structured. Early exams took 100 hours each. Later
ones 300 hours. I put the hours in. How often do we put 100 hours into
something, before deciding we can’t do it? How often do we ask whether the way
we learnt is the best way to learn, before deciding we can’t do it? Two mentors
stand out for me as teaching me practical methods on “How to learn”. Mr Saayman
(my History teacher), taught me as a 12-year-old how to summarise. Pin down the
main thing. When I was 20 years old, David O’Brien,(an Actuary who had finished
what I was starting) reinforced the idea of spending 8 minutes on a 5 mark
question, and no more. Move on. Exams are a process. No individual question is
the main thing. Part of learning is accepting confusion as part of the process.
Make your own fate.
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