I haven’t come across a norm that states that education should be for success, authority or wealth. When we think of education, the first image we perceive is studying to become a successful person right? Well, we aren’t wrong to hold such conceptions but what if education was something much more than that? What if education had a bigger purpose? Thoughts and questions such as these may not seem logical or even sane, but if we take some time to examine education, unbelievably simple yet great secrets unfurl. Just last year I was attending a seminar, not because I wanted to but because my beautiful neighbor was attending. I wanted to get to know her more. During the seminar my attention was fully directed on that girl. They way she smiled, her eyes, the way she took notes, everything was simply beautiful. She came up to me one day and asked me to take notes for her as she had something important to do that day. This was my chance to impress her by showcasing my notetaking skills. When I started taking notes during the seminar, I realized that it was the first time I was actually paying attention to the subject and that attention was all it took to change my view on education forever. the seminar started with the phrase, “we must learn how to learn” and while contemplating on that phrase, it completely blew my mind. The seminar went on and I continued to take notes. I jotted down all the main ideas in a well-organized and orderly manner. The first point was that education is relative. How to tie your shoelace is also education in relation to someone who does not know how to tie them or learning how to cook is also education for people who do not possess the skill to cook. In that way education is taking place all the time in our daily lives. We are constantly learning how to be a better version of ourselves. The second point stated that we are learning with a goal in mind which tends to make us miss the beauty of learning. If we have a goal in mind, we will experience a kind of placebo effect, we dedicate all our studying to achieve that goal and, in the process, we miss all the fun that learning provides. We stress too much towards achieving our goals which leads us to all sorts of mental health issues. If we just learn for the sake of knowing, not for the sake of personal gain, but for the sake of a basic notion of humanity, we may not have to deal with all the suicide cases. The third statement was what struck me the most. It said that we are all mortal and we must keep that fact in mind all the time. When we forget that we are mortal we tend to overlook all the things that are very small yet very valuable. Say for instance you argue with your best friend. Did it ever occur to you that it may be the last time you are seeing or hearing from this person? If you think this way you will learn to appreciate everything that is going on around you. All people indoctrinating such philosophies into their midstream could lead to a better world because If we were to die tomorrow it is highly unlikely that we will argue or fight with anyone. If we keep mortality in mind, when we seek education our purpose won’t be materialistic. We would want to get educated in order to help people because that is the only valid thing to spend your life on. We are going to die anyways, why not help a bunch of people and feel good? Such an approach to education will trigger a profound transition in your education. You start to learn without prejudice or without preconception, allowing us to completely absorb all the information without negating a single one since we have no preconceptions. I was so focused at that point in the seminar, that I forgot I was taking notes for the purpose of my presence, the girl. When she returned, I gave her the notes and she came to me that evening saying my notes were scary. I stress on death. Why would you stress on mortality? She asked and my answer was an example. I gave her the example of a bottle of soy sauce. If the expiration date of the sauce was a few days from now, you would do your best to put it to use. You would use it to season your curry; you make more noodles because you have to finish your sauce and you don’t want to waste it. Similarly, if we are aware that our lives have expiration dates, we will use it to the fullest sense and will not waste even a moment of the precious time we have available. If we are aware of the limited time we have, our education will not be guided by selfish goals but instead they will be motivated by compassion and a genuine sense of well-being. Education is, in a very genuine sense, the very basis of human existence. We humans have different levels of intellect, based on that we grasp the knowledge we are provided with. Some of us are faster learners than others and some of us are interested in different sorts of learning. Different in the sense of being different form the normal algorithm of education. Whatever category we may fall into, it is really important to discover that we have a limited amount of time and we have to find a way to make an impact on the world with that amount of time. we must seek education in order to educate others on the basic goodness that all of us have present in us and we must educate and seek education in order to find or to realize that basic goodness for the greater good of mankind. Therefore education, is but a tool to help us shape a peaceful and harmonious world.