Find Schools Online - Article: Rooting For Each Other
© 2005 By Kevin Ronkko
All Rights Reserved. Printed with Permission
One of the nice benefits of an online education is the opportunity to communicate with people from all over the world in a cozy classroom environment, accessible even with messy hair and in wrinkled pajamas. Though this is convenient in its way, there are things that need to be paid attention to, especially in how we communicate with each other.
This convenient atmosphere creates a very diverse classroom situation. You can talk with people from all over the place in a virtual class. Because people are working extremely hard, the desire to be competitive is an occasionally blaring aspect of this situation. These virtual, interactive surrounding can be a great opportunity, though, to teach us all to root for each other, as diverse people who share one commonality. We are all trying to do something positive with our lives and improve the future in some way. Though we live in a competitive world, rooting for each other through this pleasurable struggle is essentially important.
In discussions, it is all too easy to cling to one side of an argument, without listening carefully to another person’s perspective. Just because you have thought about something logically and have a fairly solid argument, this doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t another way to look at what you are saying. Sometimes there are even holes in viewpoints that need counterpoint. By finding these holes, the chance to strengthen an existing theory exists, which is an exciting prospect.
The reality is, though, that as people, we can learn how to resonate together in a democratic way. Democracy should be a substitute for violent interaction. Listening is a skill that is as important as communicating our thoughts to a democracy. Jingling and jangling our thoughts to each other, while moving through our individual paradigm shifts of forward momentum can be quite a bit of fun, actually, once we get over ourselves a little bit. It’s all about losing the ego in order to gain an ego fun indeed.
What is interesting, here, is that even though we are all learning and growing, while respecting each other’s viewpoints, we also gain the opportunity to become ourselves more completely. This is the real beauty, I think.
That’s why learning to root for each other as we learn together is essential. It is all about gaining an ability to have compassion towards views other than your own, as we live in both a simple and complex society simultaneously.
Learning to see other people’s points, while maintaining your own values, the ones that make you special, is all part of the process, and online learning is a great way to explore your own techniques of doing this. It’s like having a way to rehearse for real life. Once you learn how to do it in a virtual world, you can learn to do it in even hostile environments, though I wish you luck in avoiding such climates.
The point here, though, is that today’s world is all about communication. The more peacefully we can approach opposing viewpoints, the more able we will be able to find the things we share in common. As we find our uniting qualities between each other, hopefully we can move towards an inner peace in each participating learner.
Communication is a process. With the initial intention of rooting for each other, the outcome should prove to be both peaceful and educational. It really is as much about our intention, as it is about the outcome.
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Kevin Ronkko is the author of “The Singing Drummer: Add Vocals to Your Beat,” published by Windstorm Creative LTD. He is also a member of the Vic Firth Education Team and has taught many students the art of drumming. His web site is https://www.pumpingbeat.com. Kevin, ever a student, is currently a student at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh — Online Division and plans on earning a BS in interactive Media Design.
