Educated is a memoir, whose author Tara Westover depicts her childhood growing up in the mountains of Idaho under the continuing influence of her father's firm belief in her own rigid Mormonism, his rejection of public education, and distrust of government and "medical institutions." Tara, who had never been to a public school, helped her mother mix oils, and then worked for her father in a dump. Her life was filled with dangers, tragic memories of accidents and injuries and the oppressive family atmosphere created by her brother's constant threats of physical abuse. In a family of seven children, Tara grew up in dogfights and quarrels.
One day, her brother Tyler went out to college against his father's wishes. Tara’s curiosity was awakened, and she began studying on her own, saving money to attend the ACT and getting into Brigham Young University. At first, she had a hard time adapting. She felt like an outsider, unable to reconcile her past with her new life. As time passed, as new ideas and new habits emerged, and as her wisdom and willingness to learn shone brightly, she was given the opportunity to study at Cambridge and eventually at Harvard University. Unfortunately, relics from her past continue to haunt her – she has never shaken off the emotional burden of feeling unworthy and betraying her family. The book richly describes her journey from ignorance and obedience to knowledge and independence.
How could Tara get such a great success even though she didn’t get public education? On the one hand, she also received education at home. She was encouraged to teach herself, and there was a pile of books and learning materials to use at home. Mom and Dad can do some tutoring，though they are not very educated. When she was a child, she had the ability to read and write. She has read the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and take the initiative to write small essays. She also systematically studied Morse code.
On the other hand, although Dad's educational views that reading is useless and doing something practical is needed are extreme, his ideas and practices can make Tara realize the importance of practice and the limitations of lack of knowledge as soon as possible. These basic trainings help her have the ability to learn and the awareness to turn knowledge into skills. In this way, as long as she wants to learn, she will not be far behind. While, many people around us constantly reserve knowledge from primary school to college, but the learning ability has not been improved for a long time.
What is education? Is it the same as going to school? Tara said, " you could call this selfhood many things. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsity. Betrayal. I call it an education. " So going to school and educating are not exactly the same thing. We can’t go to school all the time, but we are educated all the time. All events and touches that allow us to know ourselves and help us to see things from different perspectives are education. With its existence, life no longer has standard answers, and everything that happens and is happening is taken as a gift. Screwing, challenging, accepting, doubting, separating, reconciling…… It's all part of growing up.
I felt extremely shocked and appreciate Tara's tenacity and inner strength after finishing the reading of this book. I cannot imagine if I were Tara, what my life would be like. No doubt how lucky we are. She chose to take the initiative to change her destiny, surpassed those who started much higher than herself, and found her own "mountain".
Where is my "mountain"? I have never been confident, I have no outstanding talent, amazing background, unparalleled appearance, I have never been willing to admit that I am an ordinary person who has nothing to do with a grand mission. But after reading the book, I felt that my thinking had changed a little, and I talked a lot with my friends. I said to myself, "If I don't pay enough attention to my own ideas, if I'm not confident enough, why would others like me and love me?" I must first make sure that I have enough love so that I do not fall into a state of lack of love, so that I do not fall into a state of longing for charity from others. When I am in a state of full love, I can go and offer my love to others. "I'm more at odds with any intimate relationship, well, I don't think it's good, I shouldn't be like that." "Before, I dressed myself up, bought clothes, and had hairstyles, and it felt like I was trying to please others, attract the attention of others, and give others a reason to love me. But I felt that I needed to give myself a reason to love myself more, and that was enough. "
"…… education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of education are one and the same thing. "If you want to live yourself, you have to start from yourself.