To paraphrase Liam Neeson's character in Taken, I have a very particular set of skills. Some of them I have intentionally acquired through study and practice, such as subjects I chose to study in school, sports I voluntarily attended practices for, and things I read up about and educated myself with via Youtube videos, TED talks, and other self-educational tools. And then there is a second set of skills, skills that I never thought I would have, use, or need, but that I have nevertheless.
An Unintentional Education
This past weekend, my brother got married and as best man, I had to give a speech. I have never been a part of toastmasters or studied oratory in any official setting, nor did I join any debating clubs in high school or university. I hadn't even read up about how to be a public speaker, and yet, I managed to present my speech - in my somewhat biased opinion - rather well. Now, this isn't due to some stroke of fortune on my part that has made me an incredibly talented, naturally gifted public speaker, but rather due to ten years of training and education in how to be a public speaker that I hadn't even signed up for.
When I started high school, I also started volunteering at my church's children's ministry, helping out with the pre-school age group. Part of our job was to tell a story each week and to explain how to do the crafts and games for that morning. This was my first real introduction to public speaking apart from the orals that were forced upon us at school, and it was to five-year-olds. It was safe to say that I had not joined the team because I wanted to learn how to present myself when giving a speech, but as I continued to serve, moving around the age groups, progressing to leading the teams of volunteers and training new team members, I began to do to exactly that. I would walk people through curricula, brief people on run sheets, lead training days, and benefit from seeing other more experienced people do the same things. All the while, I was receiving a masterclass in how to speak in public.
So, when a wedding came along, I knew exactly how to speak to hold people's focus (believe me, if you can keep the attention of a room full of hyperactive eight-year-olds, adults are nothing), keep my pacing, and speak in such a way as to be understood. I had never looked to get an education in public speaking, and yet, I had received one nevertheless.
In a similar vein, I signed up for an internship seeking to learn SEO skills to benefit my writing but ended up working as part of the web audit counter at the company, reviewing websites for readability, ease of navigation, and SEO efficiency. Most of that had nothing to do with what I had signed up looking for, but the knowledge I acquired in those three months gave me insights into website design that I would never have had otherwise, and which would prove incredibly valuable when I came to setting up my own website.
Nothing is Wasted
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. So goes the slogan regarding physical waste, but I would like to add a fourth word to that collection in an attempt to reduce educational waste: Reapply. Anything you learn, no matter how useless it may seem at the time, can be applied to your life in an effective, if unexpected way. Whether it be childcare preparing you to be a teacher by training you to present something complicated in a way that is easier to understand, volunteering at a camp teaching how to handle admin by familiarizing you with team structures and run sheets, or house-sitting because you needed the cash teaching you how to cook so you don't starve, there's an application to everything.
So, don't waste an education, even if it doesn't look like one.
Keep creating
Michael
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