I’ve always been a bit offended by the statement “Those who can’t, teach.” I had the opportunity to teach at the university level for a few years and found it to be incredibly difficult, mind expanding, and rewarding work. I spent hours outside the classroom helping students and grading papers. It was not easy, and I did not have summers off. I felt a kinship with my colleagues, as I do here at SolarWinds, and a need to share knowledge. When I think of this same adage and witness people attaching it to certifications, I find myself even more concerned about our negative bend toward education.
You get your degrees and your certifications to provide external evidence of your knowledge and your commitment. I applaud anyone who realizes there is more going on than what they engage in every day. I take my hat off to those who take the time to expand their knowledge. There are a number of very different but equally laudable motivations for educating and gaining education:
- You want to take the time to pass proven knowledge to the next set of thinkers, problem solvers, and practitioners. You want to expand and exercise minds.
- You are already doing a job that covers the knowledge required for a degree or certificate and take the time and make the extra effort to attain the external proof. It is external proof that allows you to move to the next opportunity.
- You realize there is a gap in your knowledge or that there is more out there than what you do daily and want to bridge or fill that gap.
Teachers don’t avoid the real world or dodge responsibility and neither do students. I remember trying to budget and pay real-world bills on an adjunct salary. And as far as responsibility goes, what greater responsibility is there than teaching the next generation how to succeed and giving them the tools and confidence to do so? What greater burden than to be the one gaining that education and the expectations to succeed?
So, what does this have to do with community? Our forums provide you a way to recognize and proactively fill knowledge gaps. They give you access to other members who have earned their SolarWinds Certified Professional badges. Community offers you interaction and the ability to be both student and teacher. Our community gives you access and power, makes you educator and educated.
Surfing the slippery slope,
Michael
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