Nate Wynne
Explore English. Explore the world.
Life Stories Reflection
The Well-Educated Me
The ever-present compelling drive I have to learn new things about the world around me is written within the spiraling double helix of my genetic code. Although it wasn’t until later in my life that I fully embraced my drive to learn as an inextricable component of the carbon-based life form that is me, I was fortunately born into a world that promoted education. Every moment of my short time here on this tiny pale-blue satellite I call home, I have lived to learn and have learned to live.
Years before my birth, at a young age my mother recognized the value of education and later after achieving her Masters in English she pursued a life long career as a teacher. Unsurprisingly, my mother’s love of education and language was lovingly impressed on me from the moment I was born. Throughout my childhood she ensured I had access to the best education she could afford. Indeed, I found much of the time spent outside of my classes was spent inside of her classes listening to her teach. Even at home, most of my activities involved educational components. I read more books than I can remember. The toys I played with such as Lincoln Logs and Legos promoted logic and creativity. Thankfully, the result of my mother’s tender fostering of a love of education and language in the end paid off.
Clearly education is within my bones underneath my skin. Not only has my mother nurtured the innateness of my urges to learn, but also as an adult I can confidently identify the sources of my passion for education. This lifelong passion for pursing education has led me to pursue a career like that of my mother. I cannot escape what makes me who I am. I have embraced my identity as a life long learner. Likewise I am eager to disseminate the knowledge I’ve learned to anyone around me who is curious about the world around them. The future of learning lies within those with the capacity to learn.
The Well-Traveled Me
The ever-present compelling drive I have to travel around the world is written within the spiraling double helix of my genetic code. Although it wasn’t until later in my life that I fully embraced my urges to explore the world as an inextricable component of the carbon-based life form that is me, I was fortunately born into a world that promoted travel. Every moment of my short time here on this tiny pale-blue satellite I call home, I have lived to travel and have travelled to live.
Indeed, I was born while traveling. From my humble beginnings, I’ve been travelling on Earth at the speed of 2.2 million kilometers per hour riding through space and time on an interstellar journey toward what I now know as the Great Attractor. And while my travels will not end at the Great Attractor, there’s something about it and something within me that compels me to remain in motion. I am attracted to traveling like the planet I live on is attracted to an unknown region of space with the mass of 1,000 trillion Suns.
In addition to compulsory space travel, my mother and her love of travel helped foster a similar intense desire within me. She grew up traveling and continued to travel after I was born. Prior to my birth, my mother had already traveled to nearly all of Asia, Central Asia, and Europe. My childhood consisted of one road trip after another. I was born in South Carolina and shortly thereafter my family drove cross-country to live in California. I’ve seen Mount Rushmore, Hoover Dam, and the Redwood Forest. I’ve taken train rides from California to Indiana and back. The traveling I was exposed to as a child became an obsession as an adult.
My adult life as a natural-born traveler leaves me forever unsatisfied with my current location. I crave motion. I desire what is in the far-off distance. In German, the word for my state of being is known as fernweh. Some like to translate this word as wanderlust, however I understand it to be closer to the opposite of homesickness. Quite literally, I have farsickness and the only cure is traveling. Thus far I have journeyed to 27 states, all over Europe, to Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, and China. I am ready for more. I will always be ready for more. I will live as a traveler and when I die I will continue to be a traveler, throughout space and time.
