Growing Old And Growing Up Essay

Which is more necessary in life to become successful; education or experience? “Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.” This quote by Carroll Bryant, clarifies the difference between growing up and growing old. Growing old is aging; aging is a natural process that everyone has to go through. However, growing up is when people change by going through different experiences. In order for people to become truly successful in life they must gain experience because education is so limited that people need to develop personality traits through experience.
Education is important, and the things people learn lead them to success. However, other personality traits, such as, self- control, self- confidence, curiosity and persistence matter more. People become educated by learning what their taught at school. On the other hand, people develop different types of personality traits when they have gone through a variety of experiences. For example, people develop their attitude, from their surroundings; from the environment they live in. When people have had bad experiences, they will most likely start to develop a bad attitude and vice versa. People can change their attitude from negative to positive by reflecting on their past experiences, learning from their mistakes, and making their new experiences worthwhile.
The different types of personalities people have are all determined by their natural and acquired traits. Natural traits are inherited from one’s parents and grandparents. They are hard to change because that personality trait is imprinted on that person’s DNA. For example, a person with bad temper will find it had to get over anger. Acquired traits are gained through experiences in one’s life, unlike natural traits are easy to adopt. People develop acquired traits by doing something in their lives that help them to develop new characteristics; acquired traits can develop as people grow. For Example, if a teenage boy has many friends with bad attitudes and spends too much time with them, then he too will develop a bad attitude according to the influence that his friends have on him.
Education and experience are very different aspects in life, experiences are more necessary because they encourage people to learn from their mistakes. Experiences influence people’s personalities and attitudes; overtime, experiences can bring big changes in people’s behaviour. For example, if a girl is friends with someone with a bad behaviour, and realizes later that her friend has a bad attitude, then that girl will learn from this experience, how to choose her friends. Education is also limited because one cannot know everything in the world. Education is taught but might not be applied, unlike experience. For example, a teacher can teach a science theory and some students may understand, but some only will understand if they applied it in a science laboratory. “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn”, this quote by Benjamin Franklin proves the importance of applying what people learn otherwise, people will tend to forget.
In conclusion, in order for people to become truly successful in life they must gain experience because education is so limited that people need to develop personality traits through experience. Most of the qualities that contribute to overall life success come from experiences facing adversities. Confidence, courage, self-control, communication skills, and persistence are learned when people face situations in which they struggle. However, people need to reflect on their experiences so they can do better next time. Overall, through experience people learn new things, of which they did not know and develop new personality traits that all contribute to the success of their lives.