“The true purpose of the arts education is not necessarily to create more professional dancers or artists. It’s to create more complete human beings who are critical thinkers, who have curious minds, who can lead productive lives.”
— Kelly Pollock, Executive Director Center of Creative Arts
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“Why is algebra required in school? Nobody uses it in everyday life.”
That wasn’t the first time I’d heard that question. But hearing it again a few days ago, I jokingly quipped, “You haven’t seen my math grades, or you wouldn’t be asking me.”
Truthfully, educating the mind to become a well-rounded or “complete human being” requires more than “book learning,” as my grandfather called it. His testimony can be entered into the record with credibility. He went to work at the age of 13 to help support his family and enjoyed a rewarding career.
Achieving a productive life requires curiosity about life beyond one’s chosen field.
For example, consider the story of a good friend and former colleague. He was an outstanding high school athlete and honor roll student when one of his classroom teachers confronted him.
“Why are you wasting your time on football instead of concentrating on something that will help you in the real world?”
If he shared his response that day, I’ve since forgotten it. But I will not soon forget his statement to that teacher a few years later. After graduating from a major university on a full-ride football scholarship where he was an honor student and an outstanding athlete who helped his team reach a post-season bowl game.
Visiting his hometown high school after college, he found the teacher who downplayed his sports participation a few years earlier by insinuating that athletics had no value in the “real-world.” He shared with that teacher what he considered one of the more valuable lessons he had learned at the university. That, “the value of sports is not a question of its direct application to ‘real life’ knowledge, but what it adds to becoming a productive member of society. Sports teaches goals, objectives, teamwork, strategy, planning, and success—all skills needed to effectively use an education in the real world.”
“Oh, and it paid for my education,” he added.
For what it’s worth, he is today the CEO of an international corporation and a staunch supporter of athletics in public schools.
My educational highway was a little bumpier stretch of road. I graduated not “cum laude,” but more like, “Lawdy, how come.” My job titles have more closely resembled something I once saw scripted on an executive coffee mug. “I’m in charge. My specialty is creating problems you didn’t know you had.”
And, where my friend was a football player, I was a band nerd. I didn’t wear a number, and you wouldn’t find my name in the program, but I made appearances in two Cotton Bowl games plus a couple of Dallas Cowboy and Houston Oiler exhibition games. Performing with the band at halftime, broadening my horizons, satisfying my curiosity, and developing an appreciation for arts and skills outside of my chosen field of study.
Did any of that enhance my career opportunities as much as the academic qualifications on my transcript?
Probably not. But like many forms of the arts and extracurricular activities, it helped even a bashful band nerd become a somewhat more complete human. One capable of thinking and communicating effectively to lead a more productive life while applying my “book learning.”
Band did give me an appreciation for music beyond the rock and roll I listened to on the radio back then. It also left me with a lifelong desire to become more involved in music and the arts, and an inspiration to learn how to play musical instruments. It afforded me a broader appreciation for all kinds of music, not the least of which has been leading congregational singing at church—something I’ve done all my adult life.
Best of all, perhaps, band gave me lasting memories of life experiences and friends. Hands down, the fondest memories of my school years.
As for algebra? While I admit we use it daily in ways we don’t even realize, in case you missed this earlier … you haven’t seen my grades in math.
—Leon Aldridge
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Aldridge columns are featured in these publications: The Mount Pleasant Tribune, the Rosenberg Fort Bend Herald, the Taylor Press, the Alpine Avalanche, the Fort Stockton Pioneer, the Elgin Courier, The Monitor in Naples, and Motor Sports Magazine.
© Leon Aldridge and A Story Worth Telling 2024. Excerpts and links may be used, provided full and clear credit is given to Leon Aldridge and ‘A Story Worth Telling’ with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.
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