Alot of people can't wait to "finish" their education. Imagine it! No more busy work. No more boring homework or seemingly meaningless assignments. No more tests meant to trick the unwary.

School boards, curriculum committees and teachers don't have a monopoly on education. Some cynics might say they can even hinder your education! Some of the most important things in life just aren't taught in school.

To get the most out of the time you invest in learning, you need to take charge of your own education and set your own priorities.

To really be happy and make something of your life, you can't let a bad teacher or bad school make you want to stop learning. As scientist Louis Pasteur noted, "Chance favors only the prepared mind." Give yourself the best chance for success.

With technology and society changing so rapidly, it's likely that you will need to gain additional skills throughout life just to keep up—and even more so to move ahead.

So how do you create your own educational plan? What are some of the factors to consider?

There's an entire universe of knowledge out there (and tons of misinformation as well!), so where do you start?

Spiritual dimension

How about starting with vital, foundational information seldom covered in school? The spiritual dimension is the true key to a happy life, and it provides the code to decipher what is truly meaningful in the flood of other information that bombards us every day.

"Happy is the person who finds wisdom and gains understanding . . . Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. She offers you life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left. She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying" (Proverbs 3:13, 15-17, New Living Translation).

God is definitely in favor of not just learning information, but of understanding its significance and using it wisely.

When we "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18), we have the framework to know the real eternal meaning of life, and the details of today begin to fit. Without that foundation, we're like those the apostle Paul described who are "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7).

Relationships 101-599

Closely tied in with the spiritual is learning about relationships with others. How can you have more friends, be a better friend, find a meaningful relationship and develop a lifelong love with a husband or wife? How can you prepare to be a good husband or wife? How can you develop the skills needed to be a good parent? How can you maintain and improve other relationships with family, coworkers and others in the community?

Many of the scriptural principles have been gathered into a couple of concise, helpful brochures: Making Life Work and Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension.

Beyond these and personal study of the biblical teachings on relationships, you can find hundreds of advice books and articles by counselors and psychologists. Many have helpful research, ideas and tips. However, you will soon find that many give conflicting advice. What should you believe? Here the moral compass of the Bible again provides the key to sifting the wheat from the worthless chaff.

Sharpen your ax

Most people in Western nations today also see the need for focused and continuing education in their career field. Knowledge is often a key factor in keeping a job in changing times and is especially important in gaining promotions.

Consider the biblical principle of sharpening the ax: "If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success" (Ecclesiastes 10:10). Good lumberjacks know that taking the time to sharpen their ax in advance will pay off as the day wears on. Those with a dull ax may work twice as hard, but they won't accomplish as much.

Explore all the options available to you. Talk to the counselor at your school about your interests and aptitudes. Find out about any specialized classes, college classes you can take while in high school, internships, cooperative education, after-school activities, clubs, contests, scholarships, etc.

Once you have picked a career field, consider starting to read a professional journal for that field. Ask around about good books, helpful seminars and perhaps additional schooling that would put you on the leading edge. Better yet, find a mentor—someone experienced in your field who can give you advice and informal training.

Vincent Schaefer did. Though he did not have university training, he became one of the world's top atmospheric scientists according to The Christian Science Monitor. He took an apprenticeship at General Electric to help his family earn money, and there he found a mentor who encouraged him to conduct his own experiments. He went on to discover the first method for seeding clouds and founded the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (Emilie Tavel Livezev, "Self-Educated Scientist's Formula for Life-Long Discovery," Dec. 20, 1982).

This self-educated man encouraged others to take advantage of every opportunity to learn something, to read books and to seek out worthwhile people as friends. "You have to have a sense of wonder and be aware of everything that goes on," he said. "You have to develop what I call ‘intelligent eyes'—be intrigued with the world and everything in it."

Develop your interests, expand your horizons

It's likely your career will use only some of your talents, abilities and interests. Just because you get a job in chemical engineering, it doesn't mean you can't continue to develop your skills and interests in music, art or sports. Many community centers and community colleges have classes and workshops in a variety of interests. If none are available, consider teaching one yourself. It's amazing what you can learn by teaching! (More on that later.)

Don't be afraid to expand your horizons and try new things you may have been avoiding in the rush and grade pressures of formal schooling. Perhaps you wouldn't have received a high grade in a ceramics or water polo class, but outside of school your goal can be to broaden your experience, not get a grade.

Exploring the world

Speaking of broadening your experiences, nothing does that quite like traveling. Explore your options here as well. Some have set goals to visit every continent, while others have specialized in getting to know a region of the world in depth. Whatever you do, make sure you learn as much about the country, customs, languages and safety tips in advance as you can. Who wants to be seen as a tourist or the proverbial "ugly American"?

"I think I learned more in my one year abroad than in my entire life," said Erika Pedersen, an American whose fascination with France began when she was 15. "That probably sounds exaggerated, but that is sure the way it felt!"

Prepare to teach

All learning has a purpose, in developing us into better, more interesting, more fulfilled, multidimensional people. Another great purpose of learning is to be able to share what we've learned and experienced with others. Not only does teaching reinforce our learning, but it also helps us to develop additional skills in communication and leadership.

The Bible shows that God expects His students to prepare to teach others. (Consider the rebuke given to those who should have been ready to teach, but who needed to hear the very basic lessons all over again—Hebrews 5:12.) The pattern God designed is for the older to teach the younger.

What can you do today to prepare to teach? Perhaps your church has a club that involves speaking. If so, volunteer to speak and use the feedback to help you improve. Also, consider working on your writing skills. This can also develop your teaching skills. And learn all you can about child development and how to be a successful parent. That role is one of the most important teaching gigs anyone can ever have.

So, you may feel like you've had enough of busy work, quizzes and tests. But don't turn your back on education altogether. Instead, embrace it, make it your own. Develop an educational program unlike any other on earth. Give yourself an eclectic, fun, meaningful and fulfilling program of lifelong learning that will serve you well from now till eternity and beyond! VT

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Rethinking School

If school sometimes seems pointless and meaningless to you, it might be time to think differently about it.

When you're faced with a seemingly pointless "busy-work" assignment, brainstorm for ways to make it actually meaningful to your own educational goals. Sometimes just knowing that you are building the kind of perseverance that is necessary for success can help.

What about tricky tests? You can be learning to look for the traps con artists use to cheat people.

What about mean or boring teachers? You can be preparing to deal with difficult bosses and clients.

What about subjects that you don't care about? Poetry could help you understand more about how other people think. Geometry could help you develop thinking skills that will help you in seemingly unrelated areas.

Think outside the box, and see if you can't mentally reshape your formal schooling to fit your real long-range goals.