“Experience is the best teacher” is an old cliché,but I agree with it. The most important, and sometimesthe hardest, lessons we learn in life come from ourparticipation in situations. You can’ learneverything from a book.
Of course, learning from books in a formal educational setting is also valuable. It’s inschools that we learn the information we need to function in our society. We learn how to speakand write and understand mathematical equations. This is all information that we need to livein our communities and earn a living.
Nevertheless, I think that the most important lessons can’t be taught; they have to beexperienced. No one can teach us how to get along with others or how to have self-respect. Aswe grow from children into teenagers, no one can teach us how to deal with peer pressure. As weleave adolescence behind and enter adult life, no one can teach us how to fall in love and getmarried.
This shouldn’t stop us from looking for guidelines along the way. Teachers and parents arevaluable sources of advice when we’re young. As we enter into new stages in our lives, theadvice we receive from them is very helpful because they have already bad similar experiences.But experiencing our own triumphs and disasters is really the only way to learn how to deal withlife.
