3 Things You Won't Learn in School

I might feel a little bad about this one as I have cousins that are all swamped by exams and school right now and the last thing I'd want is angry Aunts and Uncles on my back screaming "she said what?!" Anyhoo, today's challenge topic is to share some things that school doesn't teach or prepare you for.

Lesson 1:

All the exams I studied for in high school meant very little in the grand scheme of things. Yes they helped me get my place in Uni, but overall it was my portfolio that did that. That huge glorious case I had to cart around to interviews that on the whole came from my own head. Further to that, my 1st class BA with Honours degree hasn't really opened many doors either. This is the biggest thing that schools just don't prepare you for. We are made to believe that once we got through school, we'd get to Uni and once we got through Uni we'd get a job. It's just not the case, especially in the creative industries. I was lucky however. One lecturer - just one - was good enough to be 100% honest with us. He said that there was very little chance of us getting a job straight out of Uni and that we'd have to work our guts out to get what we want, our grades and degrees mean very little. It's our drive, creativity and persistence that will land us the life/job we want.

Lesson 2:

Life doesn't play fair.
As a kid I was exposed to horror movies like Bambi and *gulp* The Land Before Time, so I kind of had an inkling that this might be the case. Later in life things can get hard with plenty of events to throw us off track just like a football bouncing off your face in a rainy Scottish playground {Any American friends may prefer the term curveball, but I would imagine the football to face scenario is far worse - the sound it makes!}

However, we can't let these things in life bring us down. Yes life can be cruel, but it's full of joy, wonder and love and that's what you have to hold on to to keep you going. Just imagine all your goals are the Great Valley and you'll be fine!

Lesson 3:

This is the biggy, to me anyway as I wish someone had told me when I was 5! All you budding artists out there, be you a painter, an illustrator, a musician or a writer, take note. Your teachers will try and mould your creativeness in to "right" and "wrong" in order to get good grades. By all means get good grades, but whatever you do remember to express yourself. Not your teacher, your exam paper or some other artist you admire - just you!

To all of you who want to be artistic and creative, but have wither been told or feel that you aren't good enough. Bollocks to that! If you want to paint, get your hands messy and paint. If you want to draw, treat yourself to a shiny new pack of pencils and go for it. If you want to play an instrument, pick up some spoons and bang those pots. Creativity is about expression of self. Do whatever you can to express that creative soul you have - we all have it! If you doubt it I would recomment reading If You Want To Write by Brend Ueland. It is a beautiful book that encourages creativity not matter what your medium is.

Here's a link to an article that references Bill Gates: 11 Things They Don't Teach in School and from it comes my favourite life lesson: "Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."

What are the lessons school didn't teach you?