MBA and Education

With four degrees behind me, one would think I am highly educated and knowledgeable in many areas, able to impart great wisdom with alacrity and comprehension. Yet if I could say one thing that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, it is that I am absolutely certain of how little I really know. My education is not about completing a degree, it is about discovering new things, of revealing truths, of finding new pathways to goals, and about applying knowledge to all facets of life. But as noble as all of this sounds, in truth I remain ignorant of so much.

The more I study accounting, management, ratios, and finance, the more I discover how much I still need to learn. Not unlike music, there seems to be no end to the knowledge required to be a successful money manager. The more I know, the less I know. In a way, this is the journey of a lifelong learner, one who cannot seem to get enough knowledge in many areas. The formal education means nothing without an insatiable curiousity and without an awareness of one's own limitations. In fact, the enemy of knowledge is the unbridled arrogance that prevents further improvement; whereas, the friend of knowledge is a curious mind. That coupled with a desire for understanding are ultimately the spicy ingredients that lead to humility in its totality.

Humility and receptiveness are the keys to knowledge. My knowing that I cannot know everything and that getting an education is simply one way to acquire a modicum of knowledge and skills, are extremely humbling ideas and, at the same time, strangely amusing. Acquiring an education has little to do with intelligence and everything to do with humility, curiosity, and tenacity. Unfortunately, in my case, it simply demonstrates how little I truly know and how much more I wish to know. To that end, I continue my quest for knowledge and will now dive into books, into writing, and into trying to have greater comprehension of the arts and of the world of business.