The Wilting Tree

If knowledge is understanding, and wisdom is the application of knowledge, then wisdom is the act of applying understanding right? Where do we get this knowledge to understand then the wisdom to use? I’m told I go to school to gain knowledge but to have knowledge I must first understand. But I can’t have knowledge because I can’t understand what these teachers are trying to drill in my head. facts, dates, formulas, equations, and theories that I can recite in my sleep but I can’t comprehend. I take my seat as the first bell rings then pack up to leave after the last. Like Pavlov’s dog, I’m trained to go to and from and sit and speak on cue. I spend all day taking notes and listening to lectures. Regurgitating information like a monkey performing a trick. Are you actually giving me knowledge and teaching me wisdom or are you giving me facts and teaching me memorization? If as a kid I am a tree who needs water to grow then knowledge is water and learning is how I grow. But you aren’t pouring water on me and you haven’t planted me in the sun. You’ve kept me in the shade and you talk about water and sunshine, what it is, what it’s made from, how to get it, and why I need it. All while never giving me a drink or some time in the sun, and I listen to you complain as I don’t grow. It’s time for me now to enter the real world. I don’t have the knowledge or the wisdom but I have a paper that says I’m ready, I made the grades and I passed the tests. I haven’t grown much and I am left to figure it out because the potters’ job is done.