Tara Westover — Educated

Wow, I finished this book in 2 days. Great flow and story telling, a very captivating life story, I understand why this book was winning a lot of awards and appreciations. It is a story of empowerment, strength, persistence, learning process, and how education is one of the most fundamental thing in the world.

… and of all the decisions that go into making a life — the choices people making together and on their own, that combine to produce any single event. Grain of sand, incalculable, pressing into sediment, then rock.

A great analogy, that every decision or steps we made in facing any situation, are sort of making us who we are. Small acts of kindness, grateful gestures to other people, obedience’s to simple traffic light — all events will make our character. These are what makes you, you.

The skill I was learning was a crucial one, the patience to read things I could not yet understand.

I am familiar with these situations. When I was working in different role, or working in another country, I encountered a lot of these. I believe in the end, there would be a revelation, of what the fudge I read earlier.

… the odds are better if you rely only on yourself.

I am half agree and half disagree with this. Strings of events in my life have taught me to rely on yourself as well as on others. For me, it is knowing the time to quit, to ask for help. And that also takes courage.

First find out what you are capable of, then decide who you are.

A powerful saying, basically is what my dad taught me by his actions. He tried a lot of things, even things beyond his field. Some are successfully working, and some are not. And he then decided on who he is.

All in all, it is a great book for me. It is a very human book, it shows a lot of what human can do, for the better or worse.