What School Doesn't Teach You

A few reflections post education

Soul Wisdom is a weekly newsletter. Please feel free to share parts of this letter that connect with you, or send to someone you love. A special shout out to all the new subscribers who joined since the last newsletter. Thank you for valuing my work when there are so many things that can take your attention online. I appreciate you. It means everything. 🖤

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

What Is School For?

From our earliest years, we’re placed on a conveyor belt of curriculums and assessments. We're asked to memorise facts, rehearse methods, pass tests, and move on. But rarely, if ever, are we asked the most basic questions:

Why are we doing this?

We’re trained to chase grades, job titles, and stability, yet we are not taught how to live.

I don’t know when the concept of school originated but it was probably a long time ago. Seems like it was made to teach kids to be obedient citizens and efficient workers.

I’ve had to figure out so many things about life that I wasn’t taught in school.

Clearly school wasn’t designed to nurture the soul — it was built to serve someone’s agenda.

What We Aren’t Taught

Here's what I wasn’t prepared for and had to figure out along the way:

• Losing a parent, friend, or pet — What does it mean to grieve? To hold space for absence and still move forward?

• Changing careers — How do I evolve when the identity I once clung to no longer fits?

• Moving out — What does home mean when I have to build it myself?

• Managing finances and bills — How do I navigate the emotional weight of money (and the math?)

• Choosing the right partner — What defines “right,” and how do I even begin to understand myself enough to choose wisely?

• How to navigate a breakup — Learning how best to cope when a relationship comes to an end. Learning that relationships we enter could come to an end.

• Pursuing creative dreams — To give myself permission to follow joy over logic. When do I begin to get in touch with that spark within me? Does it need to bring me money or can I just do it for fun? Can it be both?

• Building friendships as adults — Why does connection become harder, and how do I create community on purpose?

• Taking care of my health — Not just physically, but with sustainable wellbeing that includes rest, play, and nourishment.

• Mental health — What does it mean to feel broken? And how do I ask for help?

• Dealing with anger, sadness, anxiety — No one hands us a toolkit to hold our inner storms.

• Being different — How do I embrace the parts of myself that I don’t like?

• Changing my mind — Am I allowed to change my mind about decisions I make? I’ve been made to feel like every decision is permanent. That comes with a heavy sense of expectation to always choose the right thing. But you can’t choose the right thing if your wisdom expands with time.

What would you add to the list above?

The Deeper Question

The most important thing I learned in law school wasn’t buried in a textbook — it was the art of critical thinking. To read between the lines. To interrogate assumptions. To ask better questions. Because the deeper the question, the deeper the answer. The better the question, the better the answer.

I’m not saying schools need to make us perfect on all of the above but we should at least open the conversation around these topics to bring some awareness to it.

What do you think?

With love,

V

If my words have helped you in some way, I humbly invite you to consider upgrading your subscription to paid as a way to show your support. It would mean the world to me as I pour my soul into each piece I share.

Working with me

If you’re wanting to do any of the following then reach out to me:

• live with more courage,

• discover and speak your truth confidently,

• understand your emotions and your patterns,

• set boundaries with family members and others,

• deepen your relationship to yourself and your partner.

---