You only outgrow learning when you have decided in your mind that you already know everything.
Emily Peterson is a daughter, sister, wife, soon to be mother, friend, student, learner, and teacher. She loves learning, reading, good food, music, nature, fall leaves, exploring, popcorn, friends and family, Christ, and laughter. Each phase of life for her has come at unexpected times and in unexpected ways, with twists and turns, but each has been a beautiful chapter that she is grateful for.
How did you develop your love of learning?
I think that my love of learning was a gift and passion that I was born with. It has also been nurtured by my mother, father and other family members.
What experiences helped you develop this love of learning?
My mother and father love to teach and they made it easy and exciting for us. My home was designed in a way that we were constantly learning. Our kitchen held a bookcase that was filled with books that would rotate every month. There were books about the holidays, the seasons, and many other things. There was always a new book out to catch your eye.
Every night before bed, my parents would sit in the hall and read to us. I enjoyed Little House of the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, and so many other books as I fell asleep listening to my parents read.
My siblings and I were each assigned a dinner night once a week where we each learned to prepare and cook food. My mom would help us cook different types of food, or she would bring back something new from the grocery store we hadn’t tried before like kumquats, persimmons, artichokes, or a new type of cheese.
A globe sat by our kitchen table and my mom would often pick a place or an event in history to discuss over dinner. My mother also had a book of manners that sat on the kitchen table and she would read one tip each night before dinner. One day as I was practicing the piano, she came running in and gathered all of the kids to the television. That was highly unusual! But a local broadcasting company had a special program on dinner-time etiquette and manners and she wanted us all to watch and learn.
My dad would come home from work with geography quiz questions or a interesting news article that he would share with us over dinner. My dad loves his newspapers, and many a time did I get a little scolding when I threw the newspaper into the recycling before he was finished reading it. He would constantly find things to clip out and share with the family. He would often find a cultural festival, a new educational or inspiring movie, a new ethnic restaurant, or a new museum that he would then take us to. He loved to hunt out new experiences in the newspapers and then share. It is one of the things I love most about my father. Now most of these opportunities are posted online, and with a little bit of searching and digging you can find so much in your community to experience for free or for minimal fees. I often look online for free gardening, photography, cooking classes, or lecture series, or free days at museums and have been surprised at how much is offered.
During the summers my mom not only gave us chores to complete but also math facts, science experiments, flashcards on the states and capitals, and books to read that we had to complete. Television, video games, and computer time was very limited. We attempted all sorts of art projects from painting, to paper mache and more. I am deeply grateful that my mom went the extra mile to help me learn to explore the world and create. It grew in me a desire to continue to explore and create. We also had to work in the garden, which I did not appreciate until I was older, and learn how to grow different things. It taught me hard work and actually became a big stress reliever for me later in life. We always had a say in what was planted in the garden and it was fun to watch it grow and then eat it!
My mom also invited guests over to our home who had returned from big trips or from serving as missionaries. They would have dinner with us and then share pictures and stories from their experiences. I wish I was able to afford traveling the entire world, but a great alternative was hearing about it and seeing it through the eyes of another.
When I left for college my mom always encouraged me to enjoy the journey and to make sure I received a well rounded education. This encouragement helped me to expand myself during college and I took classes on sewing, Mandarin, dance, as well as participate in choir and a study abroad. My university had an free international cinema every week and lectures where they global visitors lectured about various topics. These lectures were fascinating to me and taught me much about the world without ever having to leave campus. They taught me to love the world and people with diverse backgrounds and interests, and continue to lead me to, deep friendships and insights I would have never gained had I only focused on and understood my selected major path.
My grandpa has also had a passion for learning and that has had significant impact on my life. I remember very clearly as a young girl, my grandparents were visiting one day. A pipe in the basement was having a problem and my dad had called a repairman. My dad let the repairman in and took him down the basement to show him the problem. I remember my grandpa who was about 70 at the time, a man with multiple masters degrees, a Utah State professor, an electrician, amazing cook and an exceptional gardener got up from the table walked over to the stairs, hiked up his pant leg a little to descend down the stairs and under his breath said to himself “Let’s go see what I can learn.” My Grandpa was humble enough to recognize that he could always learn more and that everyone had someone to teach you.
You only outgrow learning when you have decided in your mind that you already know everything. When you want to learn start small, often we only look for big opportunities which leads us to miss so much.
How has expanding your knowledge brought you closer to Christ?
Expanding knowledge has been such a humbling experience for me. Sometimes it feels so overwhelming that I can’t explore, experience, and learn because I know that I lack so much. But everything I have learned and experienced, from the beauty of the mountains and the world, to the diversity of people and beliefs, to science and art has taught me how wonderful and amazing Christ is. The light of Christ is found in everything that is uplifting and good. Christ created this amazing and beautiful world and learning more about it, studying the Master’s creations, teaches me more about the Creator and helps me to feel his light.
How have you continues to stay motivated learning after college?
Learning post-college has been so fun! I find the best way to keep learning however is to make myself responsible to learn. Usually that means creating a deadline. I have started a few different book clubs since I graduated college. I took a watercoloring class (in which I succeeded only in creating about 10 different types of brown with my colors, but I was so glad I tried) and a post graduation certification test simply to keep learning.
When I can’t afford classes, I find a friend to learn with me and we meet up in person or online to work on the goal periodically so that I have someone to be accountable to.
I try to make learning easy for myself–I printed a timeline of events in American History and taped it to the wall next to my kitchen table. Often during dinner we would look over it and discuss a topic we saw on the timeline. I hang poems on my bathroom mirror or next to the toilet. I use Duolingo to learn new languages. I find that I can easily accomplish my daily goal in the same amount of time as I would spend scrolling social media. I can access it anytime I am waiting for a bus or any other of the small moments I find myself waiting each day. Children’s books are also an easy way I like to keep learning. They are quick to read and they come in so many different topics. Recently I have read children’s books about different cultures, different religious holidays/beliefs, and different stories/people throughout history.
How are faith and learning related?
I believe God wants us to continue to learn not just about his Gospel but also about the world and people around us throughout our lives. The Holy Ghost can help us learn both spiritual and temporal things throughout our lives. I served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Czech Republic. When I received my assignment, I could not even pronounce it correctly. While in the missionary training center we began learning the Czech language. My companion was a very bright young woman and she caught onto the language fairly quickly. She and other missionaries in my district set goals to memorize 10-20 new words a day, and they did it! I started out with the same goal… but soon my goal because 10 words a day, and then 8, then 5 and then 1. Yes 1 new word or concept a day. Things just weren’t sticking in my mind, I would learn the same word of concept one day then wake up the next and have to start at square one. It was so frustrating and discouraging for me. It just really isn’t my strength. I remember one night kneeling on my bed, and in tears, begging Heavenly Father to help me accomplish what he had asked me to do. There was one particular grammar principle I had been struggling with that day and had failed to master. I pleaded that Heavenly Father would help me to remember and learn just that one specific principle. The next day, I got it. So that night I picked one word, and I asked for help learning and remember that one particular word, the next day I got it. That is truly how I learned the language, working on and asking God for help one word and principle at a time. It was a very slow process, my effort to learn was not enough, but coupled with God’s help it was more than enough.
A year after I returned from my mission, I crashed with anxiety. I was barely functioning. And answers and help did not come immediately. I remember very vividly, meeting with different counselors trying to find the right one and I felt so discouraged because I wasn’t getting help fast enough. I prayed and prayed and the answers from heaven and earth didn’t seem to be coming at all, let alone fast enough. At one point, I went to meet with a new counselor and I shared what I was going through, and then a few things that I had thought to try to help my anxiety. The counselor asked how I had learned that because that is what he would have shared with me. He said “You have already done what I would have told you to do.” It then dawned on me, that the spirit had taught me. I hadn’t recognized it in the moment, it had only been a thought to try something that I wouldn’t have thought of or know to do on my own. But it had worked, and I knew then it was the spirit that had taught me. As I continued to work with my counselor and doctor, I also learned to pay close attention to my thoughts, and often times I wouldn’t know in the moment that it was guidance from heaven, but acting on those thoughts helped provide additional and needed support and relief during my time of crisis.
What are you currently learning?
Right now I am focused on some fun learning projects! I have been working on Czech and Spanish through Duolingo, and I also listen to the Book of Mormon in Spanish and follow along in a hard copy of the book. I have always wanted to learn the violin and even though we don’t have a lot of money right now I decided I should stop waiting and must make it happen. I rented a violin for a few months and I found a friend who will trade me babysitting time each week for violin lessons. I am putting a new family cookbook together and I am practicing a lot of new recipes. I just finished the book Beneath a Scarlet Sky, and Devil in the White City, and I am working on Saints; the Standard of Truth and Let God Love You, Why We Don’t, How We Can. We currently live in Chicago and it is an amazing place to learn. All the museums have “resident free days” so my husband and I try to take advantage of those days to explore science, art, history, and more.
What are the most valuable lessons have you learned in your life from learning?
I think one of the biggest lessons I have learned can be best summed up with the famous Cinderella quote “have courage and be kind”. Learning has taught me that there is always more to learn. More to learn about the world, about myself, about others even those I thought I knew well. There is so much I don’t understand and when I assume that I have learned all I need to I become less kind, less patient, less open to learning, less open to new friends and opportunities, and less open to the joy that life offers.
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