Like so many of us, education has been one of the larger parts of my life throughout its entirety. Having been a teacher for the better part of two decades, I’ve been reflecting this Fall on what it means to spend one’s life in pursuit of it – though not only for oneself, in the sense of self-improvement; nor only for others, as I hope I have made possible for my students over the years; and not even necessarily solely within a community of like-minded learners that we human beings tend to seek out and in which we tend to thrive. I’m surrounded in this beautiful community by those who have chosen to make this pursuit their life’s work, and I see such joy here at SBCA – so I’ve been thinking lately about how education indeed has always been a necessary pastime meant to be enjoyed. Aristotle tells us that man is the being who by nature desires to know, and he muses as well that we are also the beings who laugh. The enjoyment of learning is something deeply-rooted within us as created beings, and even in a few short weeks of the new school year thus far, I see so clearly the fruits of this planted tree here at St. Benedict Classical Academy. My students love to learn, they take delight in it – and in so doing, they give me that same delight; they most generously share theirs with me. I suspect that education done well – for the sake of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty, that is – has always had such roots and fruits, and I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to join a community that values this deep truth of human nature.
Cultures across time have made clear even in makeup of their very languages that education is an activity to be relished and enjoyed – it is a culture to be cherished solely on account of our existence as human beings granted by God the gift of reason. For instance, the Middle English word gomen translates as both “game” and “men,” the latter as in that of a group or a community. The Latin words for “school” and “game,” furthermore – ludus – are the same as well. Humanity and games – play and enjoyment and, simply stated, fun – are perhaps very closely related even on a linguistic level with education and what it means to exist as rational beings.
Being here at SBCA has reminded me, quite joyfully, and not again but continuously, that education is meant for the whole person, the whole child – body, soul, and mind – and that it is indeed an enjoyable part of the beauty of Creation. My students remind me every day – whether dashing across the field at recess, praying the Angelus prayer with me before lunch, or eagerly raising hands to share with me what they have worked so hard to know – that, as Keats tells us, “a thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
AUTHOR: Rebecca Laughlin, Grade 3 Teacher
