2 minute read
TRUE EDUCATION FOR LIFE: BEYOND CLASSROOMS, DEGREES & BORDERS
By Shanthi Yogini
If you have ever felt at home in more than one place — or in none at all — you belong to a beautiful tribe. You might be a Cross-Cultural Kid (CCK), a Third Culture Adult (TCA), a military BRAT, a missionary child or someone who has woven together multiple cultures into one vibrant identity.
This upbringing is a gift — it stretches perspectives, deepens empathy and builds adaptability. But it also carries a quiet question: Where do I truly belong?
True Education — the kind that shapes character, cultivates wisdom and anchors the mind in timeless principles — offers an answer. It gives you a home, a place of inner rootedness that no relocation or changing passport can take away. It anchors you in the Self beyond culture, where belonging is no longer questionable, because it lives within you.
When we hear the word education, most of us think of schools, universities, textbooks and exams. We picture degrees framed on the wall and letters added after a name. Society often tells us this is the measure of an educated person.
But is that truly education? If our years of study only earns us qualifications or improves our livelihood, it is incomplete. If it equips us with technical knowhow, but leaves us unprepared for emotional challenges, health crises, identity questions, relationship struggles or unexpected life events — have we truly been educated? If education only helps us make a living but not a life, something is missing.
Rethinking Education
True education is that which prepares us for life. It teaches us how to:
• Maintain physical and mental health.
• Navigate difficult emotions without being consumed by them.
• Respond to unexpected events with calm resilience.
• Build and nurture healthy relationships.
• Find peace within and know our life-purpose. Most importantly, true education shows us that happiness is not something we chase outside ourselves — it is already within.
An education that doesn’t address these life skills falls short of its true purpose. After all, what is the point of being well-informed yet internally restless, financially secure yet mentally imbalanced?
The Inner Dimension Of Learning
We live in a time where information is abundant, but wisdom is rare. It is entirely possible to hold multiple degrees yet be unable to handle stress, resolve conflicts peacefully or sustain inner happiness. Happiness is often mistakenly sought in external achievements — promotions, possessions, praise. Yet, all these are fleeting. True happiness comes from recognizing that it already resides within us. Education should help us stop chasing what is outside and start uncovering what is already within.
Life Skills Over Paper Degrees
Imagine someone who never attended formal school. They can read, write and speak, but have no degrees in their name. Yet they understand how to breathe deeply, eat consciously, maintain balanced habits, nurture relationships and align their life with timeless values. They can handle life’s ups and downs without losing their inner equilibrium. Would we not call this person truly educated?
