The Best Investment

Tuesday, 20 August 2013 by helloiamprince · 0

When I was in senior high school, a teacher asked me what I want to pursue in college. I told her that I want to take up Fine Arts in a certain university in Baguio. However, due to lack of financial resources, I admittedly told her that I will just settle for Bachelor of Science in Nursing in a state college in town. I told her that my parents are having a hard time in budgeting the meager amount of money that we have and that my dad is looking forward to finishing our house.

She nodded attentively and told me after a few minutes of thought, "Education is the best investment in life."

I took up Bachelor of Science in Nursing and eventually forgot her statement. It didn't occur to me that the word "investment" is not something that can be learned through a dictionary. I got immersed in my college life: doing reports, attending lectures, submitting requirements, reporting to clinical duty. The output of my four-year college education doesn't really look inviting in the transcript of records. Unlike when I was in high school, I grew idle. I lost my interest in class participation. I didn't put my heart in the lessons. I didn't care. And the reason behind that is it's not my dream to become a nurse.

I became obstinate and hard-headed that my judgment became clouded. All I thought about was how unfair life is. I let my emotions get the best of me and it did not bring a very good result. In the end, it's still me who's regretting how unreasonable I acted all those years and wishing that I could turn back time and make the best of those four years.

Now, I'm 20 and old enough to rationalize the reality of the situation I am in. It's only now that I realized that education and learning don't have to come from the four corners of the classroom.

I know that not everyone is going to admit the fact that we all need money to survive this harsh world. We all need money that's why we are studying or have studied formal education. Don't worry, I've been there. I've been in denial--downright hypocrite.

We all need money to survive. It's not an opinion but a FACT.

And what is the best investment that one can have? Education. Yes, education. Did I say formal? No. Like what I said, education doesn't always have to come from the four corners of the classroom. And it's the best investment one can ever have. What my high school teacher said, I understand now.

When you invest in education, you learn. Your money will not grow exponentially. Not yet. But eventually, when you learn what you need to learn, you'll know what to do next. You'll know how to make money. You'll know the best thing to do. Money is nothing if you don't know how to spend it correctly. And that's where education and intelligence come along.

I've been reading the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I know that he's filed for bankruptcy but I think it's the most reasonable thing to do. Don't worry. A person like him knows how money makes the world go round. He knows the map and I know that he's not lost. He just took a reroute.

If you've read this book, congratulations! When I've heard about this book, I didn't buy it at first. I thought I don't want to spend 299 pesos for a book that tells you how to be rich. I just relied on reviews and blog posts regarding the book. However, when I finally decided to buy and read it, I realized that 299 pesos is nothing compared to the knowledge that you will gain from reading the book.

There's a saying that you can only make too many mistakes. No matter how rational a person is, there will always be a situation that he didn't encounter. That's why learning from other person's experiences is also important. We only have a lifetime that's divided into stages: infancy, toddler, preschool, school-age, adolescence, adulthood, old-age. We cannot experience it all when we have to balance our life with the whole world.

Education is the best investment and investing in books means investing in education, because education doesn't always have to be formal. It's the only thing that you can have with you even if you've been stripped from all material possessions. Even if you've been dumped to the deepest pit of poverty, you'd surely find your way up again. That's because they may have taken your money away but your brain will always be with you. Therefore, use it and feed it well.

From now on, I make it a resolution to read as many books as I can. I will do away with novels for now because they won't be able to help me in the real world. They're good enough for entertainment but they're not that much help at all in terms of being productive and successful in life. That way, I will begin feeding my brain.