Are You a Professional Student???

The desire to learn is not inbred in everyone.  We sometimes stop being an "active" learner when we finish our education, becoming more passive to the world around us.  No one tells us to take refresher courses to stay in tuned with trends and movements in our industry, and we sure do not know that much of these courses are provided for free!

I became familiar with the "professional student" term while in high school.  I thought that would be an excellent career path to become a professional student of: life and my career.  My motto was, "NO LATERAL MOVEMENT"!!  By definition, lateral is side to side movement.  What sense does it make to leave one position, to do the same positions (and most likely same pay) for a new company?  I'm already comfortable where I'm at.  However, I left in a heartbeat for upward mobility, which happened to come with increased pay (a lovely bonus!). 

My foundation for learning was instilled by my elementary school teacher, Mrs. Shieldges.  She taught me how to record and analyze data and suggest reasons as to why.  This was as simple as asking the kids in the class whether they liked apples, oranges or pears the best.  Record and see how many voted for each fruit.  Come up with reasons why no one liked pears and come up with suggestions to convince the apple lovers to try a pear.  I was motivated by the ability to persuade someone to change their mind (I was a seller) and was motivated for ways to be rewarded (I want a check) once I closed the deal (I was a negotiator).

When you are a constantly motivated to do something, you find new ways in which to do so.  How can I best utilize my skills to move up and get where I envision myself to be?  What moves do I need to make?  Who should I talk to?  My answer to these questions where to remain in school.  I started out wanting to be a Marketing Analysis, then an Accountant, and found I was most interested in reading, analyzing and writing, so I earned my degree in Political Science.  My passion is history:  how did we get here? how are we similar/different than other civilizations? why do we go to war? what conditions preceed a war?  how do we resolve?  Similar questions we ask ourselves when we go into business.  The questions remain the same only the variables change- how do I know where I'm going if I don't know how I got here?
Keep learning, stay focused and get a mentor.  This was one of my favorite shows to watch which helped set the foundation for my love of learning!