We toss the uniforms out of the closet, the mortars high up in the air and just shriek in excitement at that feeling of liberty on that day.

Exams are over.
No more studying, no more cramming in more than hundreds of chapters of different subjects into our brain which we were pretty sure was just on the verge of exploding (at that time).
We are free.
It is joy but most of all, it is all about that taste of liberty on that day.

Our graduation day.

It could be kindergarten, primary school (elementary or middle school), high school, college, university, and even to the honorary doctorate's level.
It is still a much anticipated day, because of liberty.
That taste, that feeling, is priceless.
The day we graduate from school and certified with that filling of information and learning stuffed into us.
We are now another level smarter.

We are ready to show the world how smart we are.
We have all the information, we have left school.
The world better be ready for us.

My question is, did we, really left school by just walking out of school?

By not wearing the uniforms, not having to open up the textbooks, not having to sit through classes, that is the end of school?

The truth is, we never really left school.

School, in name, is just an institution.
It is just a building built for that purpose.

That purpose of education.
It is a learning institution.

It is a place where we learn.
It is a place created for us to take our lessons.
Lessons in the forms of chunks and chunks of information, fed to us.
Like spoonfuls of food shoved into an infant's mouth.
Like data being keyed into a computer, one by one.

That is all about information.
We have all the information we need, from school.

But the learning, is not purely about information.

It is about experience.

Leaving school did not mean the learning stops there.
We are not any smarter, just better equipped with more information.

The world out there is full of information; and the ones we have are probably such a tiny fraction that even a microscope would take time to zoom into it.

Leaving school is not where the learning ends.

In fact, the learning is just beginning and is taking on different levels as we move through the phases of life.
As I often say, even life itself is a learning journey.

We go out to the world feeling smart, after school.
But then we stumble upon something we have never seen nor heard, and we were never taught about it in school or even at home.
We wonder, we have these million questions inside our head.

Am I dumb?
Why do I not know this?
We stumble and fail, and we start to question ourselves.
We wonder if we were who we thought.

But the question is not about questioning ourselves.
The question should be posed as a question when we start to question.




Why?
Ask WHY.

We asked WHY when we were kids.

Why do birds fly?
Why do fish swim?
Why is the Red for Stop at traffic light?
Why do we brush teeth?
Why do we need to go to school?

WHY did we STOP asking WHY?

WHEN did we STOP asking WHY?

There is nothing wrong with a child asking WHY, so Why is it so wrong for grown adults like us to ask WHY?

WHY?

Because we think we are Smarter?

WHY?

Because we have graduated?

WHY?

Because we know more than others?

WHY?

Because it's embarrassing, I'm an adult. I shouldn't ask why.


Learning never really stops.
Everything, every day is a learning experience.

We drive our car and we got stuck in a traffic jam.
WHY?
We learn that the roads get really backed up with traffic after a certain hour.
So we wake up an hour earlier to hit the road and to avoid the same situation.
We have just learnt something new.

Learning doesn't have to come from a textbook.
Learning does not mean having to sit in classrooms.
Learning doesn't have to be in school uniforms.
Learning is not only in school.

Most of all, Learning Never STOPS.

Even after school.



You can take yourself out of the school, but you can never take the school out of yourself.
It is not the building that is inside you.
It is the memories, the information but most of all the learning experience which will continue to teach you in life.
That experience to Never STOP asking WHY.

Even at the age of 87, Michelangelo famously said, "I'm still learning".

Why aren't you?

When did we STOP asking WHY?

 Just Think.

You would have learnt another WHY.