Finding Fulfillment through Education

TL;DR:

This post shares a variety of ways we can find fulfillment through education.
Education prepares you for life and provides the foundation for competing in today’s competitive job environment.
Educators have the power to influence the lives of many students.
Learners are only as good as their teachers.
Make sure to balance education with your values.

Finding Fulfillment through Education: Education prepares you for life.

Education gives you the skills needed to compete in today’s competitive job environment. We all know that it is important to get a good education so that you can get a good job and be able to afford the basics like shelter, food, clothing, and transportation. It provides you the ability to afford to have a family and perhaps extras like vacations, an extra car, dinners out at restaurants, leisure activities, etc.

Education also provides an individual with an intrinsic understanding of who they are and what purpose they have in life. It builds character, confidence, and perseverance. It provides an individual with a way to get ahead in the world. And it provides insight into the goodness and continuous potential that individuals inherently have.

Good educators do not teach learners what to think, they teach them how to think. Teachers introduce ideas, topics, concepts, and possibilities to learners of all ages so that they may understand, analyze, and make meaning of their external and internal worlds.

As a teacher, you probably already know all of this. I’m just here to remind you that there is nothing more powerful than your ability to help and teach others. Click To Tweet

There is great power in teaching.

As a teacher, you probably already know all of this. I’m just here to remind you that there is nothing more powerful than your ability to help and teach others.

I am not a teacher myself. I’m just a parent of two young boys who have been brought up to understand the power of education. I’m typically a shy and quiet person and I find myself listening more than talking. While there are definite downfalls to my personality, it has afforded me the ability to learn a lot about others. I have two dear friends and colleagues that work on an education nonprofit with me. As we develop the non-profit together, one that focuses on helping teachers better do their jobs, I’m struck about how much weight and burden teachers carry on a daily basis.

Learners are only as good as their teachers.

As a parent, my main concern is how well my child is doing at school. However, my child will only be as good as their teacher. I, also, am only as good as my teacher. As an adult well into my 40’s, I have found a special peace and inner drive to continue learning.

While recently undertaking a series of classes to obtain an executive certificate in Nonprofit Leadership and Fundraising from Notre Dame, I came across an article recently published by one of the school’s scholars.

In the article, author Brittany Solomon states, “Balancing conditions that lead to both stress and job satisfaction may help workers recalibrate their values and ultimately make decisions that suit their priorities.” She goes on to state, “It’s good for people to be realistic about the career paths they pursue and what they ultimately value.” The more education one has, the more valuable they become to organizations and to the world at large. It can easily become overwhelming and onerous.

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Find Fulfillment through Education: Balance your education with values.

I have found the best way forward is to balance your education with values. One’s true fulfillment lies within their ability to apply their education to make a lasting impact on what they value most. Putting what you value first leads to job satisfaction and personal fulfillment.

As teachers get bogged down in the daily grind and get lost in the weeds of behavioral management, teaching to tests, and difficult parent interactions, don’t lose sight of what values brought you to the job in the first place. There is nothing more powerful than a teacher’s ability to affect learners.

About Laura Lisien

Laura Lisien is currently the business manager of Education Blueprint. She has a deep understanding and love of nonprofit management. In 2003, she graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Museum Management. She later went on, in 2006, to receive her Masters Degree in Public Policy and Management from the Heinz School of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon.

From there, she furthered her business acumen in the Public Sector for more than six years at Deloitte Consulting as a Senior Consultant in the Strategy and Operations practice. She worked with clients such as Pennsylvania Department of Health and Human Services, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and the Maine Department of Medicaid and Medicare on technology and finance projects.

Her love of nonprofit management, especially pertaining to education organizations, has led her to take on her current role of Nonprofit Manager at Education Blueprint. Her goal is to set-up, run and manage the organization’s nonprofit structure in order to maximize the benefit of the website for all teachers. She is also a dedicated wife and mother of two boys and is an active member in her community.