Sunday, April 1, 2012

There's No Speed Limit

Derek Sivers has a great post on a teacher who changed his life (h/t Ritholtz):
Whether you're a student, teacher, or parent, I think you'll appreciate this story of how one teacher can completely and permanently change someone's life in only a few lessons.
I met Kimo Williams when I was 17 - the summer after I graduated high school in Chicago, a few months before I was starting Berklee College of Music.
I called an ad in the paper by a recording studio, with a random question about music typesetting.
When the studio owner heard I was going to Berklee, he said, “I graduated from Berklee, and taught there for a few years, too. I'll bet I can teach you two years' of theory and arranging in only a few lessons. I suspect you can graduate in two years if you understand there's no speed limit. Come by my studio at 9:00 tomorrow for your first lesson, if you're interested. No charge.”
Graduate college in two years? Awesome! I liked his style. That was Kimo Williams.
The rest of the post is engrossing.  Once in a while, I think back to all the opportunities I had to learn in my life, whether in high school, college or life after college, and I realize  I've been tremendously lazy.  I think online projects like the Khan Academy will make it much easier for people to educate themselves.  They (I) might not be as dedicated as Williams or Sivers, but the type of lessons Khan provides will make such accelerated education more available to those who want to learn.

No comments:

Post a Comment