“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruits are sweet!” my mom told me as she read to me my history lesson off my text book. This was a common sight during my primary classes. Little did I realise that what she said, had deep a very deep-rooted meaning!
In fact, a tree reaching out to the open blue skies have a lot in common to an intellectual who seeks out knowledge. In the grand scheme of things, we are nothing but a speck, but as we work harder, we grow taller, stronger and closer to the bright blue vastness.
• Well rooted education – We have all learnt about how a seed germinates, first it would push out its roots towards the ground to build a strong foundation before it elbows out the leaves as its first attempt to reach out to the light. Similar to this, its important to have our basics in place. Having a solid foundation first is very important before we start reaching out to our objectives. Just like how Toastmasters takes us on a well-choregraphed journey of learning and self-development, from the basics of public speaking to more complex and challenging tasks.
• Branches have to break off to make way for new growth – The only thing constant in our lives is change! As humans evolve and grow, new knowledge keeps flowing towards us. Sometimes, well established theories may be proved wrong and may pave way to new improved wisdom. Therefore, it is important we maintain an open mind and keep seeking knowledge, or you would run the risk of becoming obsolete. We should be able to un-learn and learn! We see a similar instance in trees, where when older branches are broken off, it stimulates better growth in the trees.
• Learn by sharing – Scientists have recently found out that trees in a forest form a complex network of interconnected roots. It was discovered that through this network, trees communicate with each other and even share resources with each other, where sometimes a taller tree may share resources with a smaller tree or a dying tree may transfer its resources to younger tree. This is a great example for us to live by, where we learn more about a subject by teaching that to someone. It sharpens our knowledge and helps us understand it better. Overall it helps create a better overall ecosystem. This ecosystem is also visible in the Toastmasters community, where every budding public speaker is assigned an experienced mentor. The role of a mentor is to help guide the young shoot towards the light!
• Learning is a lifelong exercise – As very young children we all learn by doing and not only by reading. As we progressed our school curriculum taught to learn from books and also learn outside of books through experiences. However, after we have completed our formal education process, its extremely important that we keep learning. Lifelong learning is a continuous, voluntary and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge. This motivation may come from professional or personal reasons, but it is important to keep ourselves motivated and in the hunt! Just like how a tree adds an outer ring to its trunk every year, we too need to keep seeking knowledge and add another feather onto our cap.
• Phototropism – Take a small potted plant and leave it on this side for around 2 weeks. You would find that it has turned and grown towards the light. It has the ability to detect and grow towards the direction of the source of light. Likewise, it’s very important that as we grow in knowledge and stature, its very important that we do no lose direction or lose sight of our initial objective.
• Geotropism – Similarly, the roots of a plant always grow towards the gravity, no matter in which direction it is placed. As trees grow taller and heavier, its roots dig deep into the earth and ensures that it is well anchored in the ground. Event the tallest tree in the forest remains deeply rooted to earth. A very important message to some of us, who have attained greater height of success, its important that we too remain deeply rooted to our humbly beginning!
What’s known is a drop and what’s unknown is an ocean! Let’s keep growing by seeking out knowledge till our time is up, just like how trees keep growing towards the light. Let’s ensure that as we grow into a strong, tall tree we also nurture the shrubs and plants around us!
Safwaan Hussain
Awakening Toastmasters
