Category — Autodidact

I have had a rough time this past semester on the road to earning a degree. In talking the problem out with my adviser and husband and doing some research about learning theory, I have come to the conclusion that I am unsatisfied with the structure of secondary education in America. I am not going to get the knowledge I desire by following the course sequence of any major developed by a university. Furthermore, since I don’t feel like I’m becoming educated, I don’t put my best effort into my courses. I must divorce the concept of knowledge from the act of being a student. To earn my degree, I will meet the arguably random requirements of my school. To earn my education, I have to set my own requirements. I have to become an autodidact.

An autodidact is a person who has learned a subject without the benefit of a teacher or formal education. Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Carnegie, and Malcolm X are a few examples of uneducated intellectuals. Remembered as an author, scientist, and politician, Franklin only attended two years at the Boston Latin School before he was ten. Carnegie, uber successful industrialist and founder of many libraries and schools, learned entirely on his own by reading, attending theater, and studying the machinery at his work. Malcolm X greatly expanded his vocabulary and refined his penmanship by copying the dictionary, entry by entry, while in prison. Knowing I want to be autodidactic is easy. Actually becoming such is another matter.

During the past few months I have been researching autodidacticism and developing a course of action. In the coming weeks, I will discuss the resources I’ve found most helpful in developing my plan, explain the techniques I intend to use in my coursework, and share the curriculum I’ve developed.

Please, contact me if you consider yourself an autodidact or if you want to become one. I’d love to hear from others who share this uncommon desire with me.