Lifelong Learning

Lifelong learning is a form of self-improvement through education and training that focuses on personal development. Through taking the initiative to advance my education in both formal and informal settings, I have been able to acquire some of the abilities that come with being a lifelong learner. This includes being able to transfer learned skills to new areas of my life, making avaliable new career opportunities, and opening myself to having my perception on the world challenged and changed. Personal development through these experiences have led me to making lifelong learning a part of my identity, and is a competency I expect to always continue growing.

Transferring Sign Language Skills to Multiple Experiences

An essential part of being a lifelong learner is pursuing an expansion of knowledge for the purpose of personal development, and to use this knowledge in various areas of your life. Learning languages has always been an interest of mine, and prior to college I had taught myself to speak and read Spanish and French in addition to my native English. In college, I became interested in learning American Sign Language (ASL) due to its uniqueness and usefulness. Through several years of taking online courses and practicing with friends who knew ASL, I have become proficient in ASL, and it is still a skill I aim to learn more of. Although I began learning ASL for my own development, it has since become an invaluable skill. I have made friends who are hard-of-hearing, have been able to translate between the languages on several occasions, and have been able to apply this skill to my places of employment. Above all, this skill became indispensable when my family learned that my sister’s son was hearing-impaired. Since then, I was able to help teach my whole family ASL, and together we are now more aware of the difficulties, challenges, and needs of the hard-of-hearing community. Through wanting to expand my knowledge of languages, I have learned a skill that has helped me become closer with my family, expanded my career prospects, and enriched my understanding of a differently-abled group of people.

Career Opportunities Through Self-Taught Software Skills

To stand out when applying for a job, it is important to have skills that are valuable and show a dedication to lifelong learning. Although my passions and career ambitions are based in study that are not necessarily in the STEM fields, I have always felt that a knowledge of software and computers are a valuable skill. For this reason, I have spent years taking courses, reading books, and practicing several common software programs and computer languages. From voluntarily taking bootcamps with the University of Texas to learning to code with my wife (a very competent engineer), I have studied and taught myself several applications that have stood out in interviews; this includes R, Stata, Excel, SPSS, Tableau, and ArcGIS. By taking the time to go beyond the required knowledge necessary for my formal education, I have gleaned an enjoyment for problem solving and am able to have multiple ways to view situations from different lenses, whether it be quantitatively, qualitatively, graphically, or a mixing of the three. I hope that in the future, I am able to work in a position in which my self-taught hard skills can complement my formally taught knowledge of public policy and public administration.

New Knowledge, New Perceptions

Lifelong learning is not strictly limited to academics, but can be about being open to learning about new worldviews, new cultures, and new values. This was the case with learning more about the Catholic faith, something I did to become more familiar with the beliefs of wife’s family. I grew up nonreligious and had very little knowledge of religion, while my wife’s parents are both practicing Catholics. Although my wife’s parents respect our decision to not follow Catholic tradition as closely as they do, I thought that learning about it would help me incorporate myself into their family and contribute to family celebrations where religion played a large role – birthdays, Christmas, Easter, etc. Although it was difficult to set aside my own ideas and beliefs, I began to understand the stories, traditions, histories, and practices of the Catholic faith, and through both private study and attendance of family events, I have become more aware of the context and culture of my wife’s family.

This past year, my wife and I experienced the unfortunate and untimely loss of a child, and her family supported us through prayer. Where before I might have seen this as an empty or impudent gesture, I understood that because of their position, prayers and hymns and religious symbols were an important part of showing their condolences, empathy, and sharing pain. At first, I considered my new cultural and religious knowledge purely educational, but this experience made me realize that learning about how people view the world differently than I do in turn led me to a new way of viewing the world. I continue to believe that setting out to learn about other cultures, other religions, and other worldviews can change your own perceptions about life experiences in profound ways.

Takeaways and Continued Learning

By going beyond what is required for educational attainment milestones, such as course credits and degrees, I have been able to commit myself to self-improvement through personal development. I’ve expanded my knowledge in the areas of language, computer skills, and religious studies, and in each case have gained otherwise unavailable insights and wisdom. I am not content with the knowledge I have amassed, and continue to be a lifelong learner by continuing my studies of the above-mentioned areas, as well as furthering my formal education by attending graduate school. I have dedicated myself to being a lifelong learner, and I am optimistic that everything I learn will help me be a better policy analyst and a better public servant.