Introduction: #

I wonder… Is the stay-at-home person who studies with the same study material with the same work ethic, intelligence level, motivation, consistency, and flexibility just as effective as a student attending a prestigious college?

Comparative Look: #

Let’s say for example, that Stay-at-home Person studies textbooks and gains a lot of knowledge by studying articles, textbooks, and all sorts of studies, whether it be Asian studies, history, politics, economics, psychology, philosophy, geography, the arts, musical instruments, drawing, writing (fiction and non-fiction), dancing, singing, and all sorts of theory. Would their effectiveness in that regard be of the same level or even better than a student attending a prestigious college?

Clarification and Limitation: #

That is only the case If the things he learns don’t require resources exclusive to prestigious college. Of course, if the stay-at-home student wants credentials, they would have to attend a college, but the point is that much of the learning can be done at home.

Advocacy for Self-Study: #

To repeat, many subjects can be mastered at home with books and without in-field experience; of course, research requires an on-hands approach and laboratories exclusive to colleges. But the point is that much of the essentials, theory-work, and fundamentals can be learned at home.

Self-study, which warrants self-discipline and self-direction, is an invaluable skill, not only in academia, but in all aspects of life, and that’s why I believe that stay-at-home, or independent learning, should be considered one of the fundamentals of mastering a subject.

Importance of Self-Directed Learning: #

There are many students in prestigious colleges who cannot study by themselves, so learning how to study by oneself is already a strong marker of effectiveness and success, especially in a demanding field that often leaves all kinds of professionals stranded within their specialties and sub-specialties, requiring them to take the self-directed proactive approach to learning and staying updated and refined in the ongoing field of research.

Integration of Diverse Skills: #

Expanding Communication Skills: #

For example, writing fiction can be one great way to improve communication skills that one wouldn’t otherwise learn if limited to a certain field of study rather than the more holistic qualities obtained in a well-rounded approach such as that in stay-at-home, self-directed, or independent study.

Integration of Fiction and Academic Studies: #

The notion of combining writing fiction and academic studies is unheard of in formal education, but it is one of those things that is possible (and even encouraged) in stay-at-home self-directed learning. Often times, professionals in fields struggle to adapt to an ever-evolving communication culture, so staying updated not just with research but with ways to adapt research to accessible formats and text is very beneficial. There are many professionals with high-quality knowledge and experience but lack the well-roundedness of someone more exposed to a well-rounded skill set or setting such as that involved in independent learning, which entails creative ways to solve problems and critical thinking beyond those rules imposed upon students in a formal university setting.

Emotional Intelligence and Adaptability: #

Emotional intelligence is also a very important aspect of dealing with self-directed learning. When one is self-directed, learning how to manage expectations and dealing with disruptions and frustrations is even more essential, given that they’re dealing with an environment demanding multi-various concerns and skills (which leads to their well-rounded skill set).

Conclusion: #

Setting one’s own goals, brainstorming ways to achieve them and becoming more flexible, creative, and even more intelligent as a result, and then accomplishing these goals are three steps that characterize the self-directed approach as incredibly effective due to its inherent applicability to divers contexts: placing oneself in multiple ever-evolving dynamics and learning how to shift oneself across multiple static domains, identity (emotional intelligence conditions) playing a critical role into determining how to marry a variety of agents, dynamic actors, and moveable things together. Active idealogy (active systematic ideation; AIY) manifests and becomes decommissioned; with intentional commissioning (analogous to government commissions) of AIY in service to more rectilinear success curves sutured into continuous asymmetrical curves, even with asymmetric binomials.¹

Concerns: #

Standard Practices in Formal Institutions: #

This analysis doesn’t take into account that it is a standard for formal institutions to involve facets of independent learning in their courses by giving each student a chance to write an essay, conduct their own research, and study in their own time; however, the goal of the analysis was to explore the difference from a high level, rather than necessarily delving into the various underlying nuances with which each college deals on a frequent basis.

Individual Variability: #

Moreover, the analysis doesn’t consider that each person is different, with their own resource levels, skill levels, preferences, and unique circumstances.

Limitations of the Analysis and Overall Argument Coherence #

While the analysis leaves out numerous nuances given the constraints imposed by its format, length, and scope, it does present a cohesive argument that concerns the rationales behind independent learning and formal education as distinct concepts, but not necessarily demarcated in actuality.