Donna Vickroy: Best graduation gift's knowing you have the power to learn and not being afraid to use it

Chicago Tribune

23-05-2025

Dear young people,
If you learn nothing else throughout your academic career, please learn the value of learning.
Not for a grade, not for schoolwide recognition or honors, not for a potential scholarship, not to please a parent.
Learn for you.
Learn who you are and what your potential is. Welcome ideas. Develop your gifts. Open doors on knowledge that will make you both interested and interesting.
I know that sounds like 'an old person' thing to say, but sometimes hindsight truly is eye-opening.
Academically, I started poorly, receiving mostly U (unsatisfactory) marks on my first- and second-grade papers. I hated school.
I was smart enough, but I was hampered by some challenges. Perhaps because they had so many other kids, my parents didn't notice my struggles. Or at least they didn't address them until the school came calling.
The summer before third grade, our family moved into a slightly bigger house. The extra expense prompted my parents to take us out of the private school and enroll us in the public school, where learning challenges were readily addressed.
That move literally changed my life.
Within weeks, I was tested and diagnosed with vision problems and speech issues. By Christmas, I had glasses, was receiving speech therapy and was suddenly getting As on my schoolwork.
More important, suddenly I loved school.
I cashed in on my new abilities by reading everything I could get my hands on. Books, encyclopedias, magazines, even the TV guide.
I loved Aesop's Fables, Rudyard Kipling's 'Just So Stories' and, most of all, SRA readers, a school-based reading comprehension program that introduced kids to myriad topics, including Greek mythology, geology and history.
I memorized poems and recited them to my teacher, who would make me recite them for the class. 'El Dorado,' 'Richard Corey,' 'Annabelle Lee.'
I know — attention hog, right? I was proud of my newfound skills and not afraid to make the most of them.
I loved learning for learning's sake. And I paid absolutely no attention to my report card.
But then I moved on to high school and I became skittish about taking classes that seemed academically risky. I was focused on extracurriculars and, of course, my circle of friends.
I had decent grades. I was having fun. I figured, why risk that by taking classes that might be hard and result in a C, or worse?
The one tenet I forgot was that the purpose of school is to absorb knowledge, not skate past it.
If I could go back, knowing what I know now about myself, I would aim higher, work harder, take those challenging courses and seek help whenever I got stuck.
And I would never open a report card.
Because the knowledge that I missed out on is infinitely more important than being able to say, 'Hey, I had a decent GPA in high school.'
Don't get stuck on the grade. Don't let marks demotivate you.
Learn because you can. Take advantage of the opportunity.
Over the years, I've met a lot of self-confessed former solid-C students who, because they realized permanent knowledge trumped temporary grades, went on to realize life goals and career dreams.
Consider this: The kid who only retains a fourth of what is taught in physics or advanced algebra will still know a fourth more about physics or advanced algebra than the kid who never took the class at all.
Grades have their purpose. But they are not necessarily a motivator. Nor are they an indicator of how smart you are or how capable you are of learning. And they certainly aren't going to help you in your 30s, 40s or 50s.
My favorite high school educator of all time was my daughter's AP European history teacher. The course was tough and many of the students, including my daughter, struggled. But after each exam, the teacher held a study class, followed by a makeup test.
The point, the teacher said, was for each kid to learn as much of the material as possible.
Inadvertently, he also taught the students that, in real life, you don't have to learn everything the first time around, that knowledge is the real goal and if it takes longer to achieve, so be it. What a gift.
I worked fairly hard in high school and in college. And the reward is that I left both with a boatload of information and a foray into lots of different areas of studies. Some of which have led to fascinating hobbies, including art, gardening and travel.
As a journalist, knowing a little about a lot of things has served me well.
But the most important thing I have learned from all those years of schooling is that learning is endless. It is a vast world of opportunity to grow, to help, to make a difference and to become who you are meant to be.
If I could go back, I would work even harder. I would study more, party less. I would get my money's worth.
My proudest moments were getting through courses that were outside my comfort zone — economics, physiology, math — because they let me prove to myself that I could learn anything.
And when you believe you can learn anything, you can.