This quote does a great job of highlighting how much of a person’s education is their responsibility. The capacity to learn is based on a person’s inborn intelligence. This is why it is a gift. People with learning or cognitive disabilities are at a disadvantage from birth. For this reason, they are not considered as intellectually gifted as those that don’t have the disabilities. The quote goes on the highlight that the ability to be taught and accept learning is a skill. Many parents pay a lot of money to send their children to schools that can help fine tune this skill of learning. So those that have the capacity to learn can use this gift by actually developing their ability to learn. Yet ultimately, the willingness to learn is a choice. This places the responsibility of learning on the student. Of all three, the willingness to learn is by far the most important.
Life is full of examples of people that had one or two of the categories mentioned in the quote. Perhaps the most painful example is the super smart and gifted student who was exposed to the best teachers, but doesn’t care and makes no effort to learn. These kids upset their parents and disappointment those that have real faith in them. On the other hand, we all love people that try to push their potential to its maximum even when we lack the capacity or ability to excel at something. While I understand that learning can be a bore, missing out on the chance to learn something new, will always be regretted.
I truly believe that my willingness was a reflection of my maturity. It wasn’t until I fully understood that what I was learning was for my benefit, that I felt calm and ready for college. Without this willingness, we are all destined to leave our parent’s care and fail. I don’t over stress my capacity to learn and I am grateful to everyone that has helped my ability to learn; it is now up to me and my willingness to take it from here and own my life. Which reminds me of this quote I once heard about life, but that is for another day.