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This only hurt me — How I Learned Better
When sitting at the classroom table, I watched as Mr. Paul jotted on the whiteboard & then asked if we had questions.
A few raised their hands, but most of us were silent.
He raised his voice slightly in a heightened excitement,
“C’mon now, if you don’t ask questions now then you’ll never benefit from it!”
If I was capable of moving then I would have given a huge shrug of my shoulders, except I didn’t — because I felt like any movement would be a distraction & take everyone’s eyes on me.
As you’re reading this, you probably think that “No OJ, you would’ve been fine!” And that’s what I think, now that I’m older & confident in myself.
Yet back then, even if our teacher was enthusiastic about classes & teaching despite his big-belly voice (bellous?), I couldn’t muster to speak.
I didn’t realize just how much asking questions instead of doing-as-told would have helped me.
Skip to the present
After COVID & studying remotely for college, I still don’t regularly ask questions.
I find it easier to figure things out myself.
Yet I’ve learned to push past my doubts, like:
I don’t have time for this.
This will only result in a large discussion.
I can look this up myself.
Communication between people is crucial, otherwise — when you really need someone, where will they be?
Without opening yourself up just a lil’, you won’t have the confidence later, as I did, to reach out to people when you need help.
Asking questions isn’t dumb
Society through schools and workplaces give us a textbook & a thousand-question exam they tells us to study through.
We’ve learned to study by-the-book, but it doesn’t mean that this is right.
Those who have carved their own path by asking questions are smart, they:
- Don’t hold in their thoughts.
- Learn from other people.
- Communicate.
That last one is key!
With communication you can be like a well-oiled engine, running smoothly without friction đźš—đź’¨
Without asking questions, we stay stuck in the same mentality & never reach outside our comfort zone.
I may have went through high school alright without asking questions, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t help me communicate any better.
If I realized that I needed to be a little social to make life easier, then I wouldn’t have choosen to clam up when faced with discussion.
Maybe if I had asked the question about the Pythagorean Theorum to Mr. Paul that day, I would have gravitated to math more quickly…
Something I’m enjoying to learn 6 years later.
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