Yearning for Learning

I remember back in school when teachers would have the class do special projects, and it’d be something like “Make a physical poster describing the topic, write an essay (cite your sources!!!), and present it to the class. This is worth one-half of your grade.”

Most kids seemed to hate it, but not me.

I freaking loved it.

Photo of two middle school girls (one with her face blurred out). The one on the left has a dorky smile on her face, and is wearing a striped shirt with a v-neck. She has light brown bangs. The girls are standing in front of blue lockers.

I enjoyed finding a topic, connecting it to the requirements, researching it, starting on the essay, shifting to the poster, moving back to the essay, bouncing over to the presentation, and wrapping up one portion at a time.

I wasn’t a perfect student (and I certainly did my fair share of procrastinating) but I prided myself on getting good grades on projects like that. There was also my weird competitive streak when I saw how much better my project was than my classmates’. Yay for being an overachiever!

My son recently had a project like that for high school English. He did more than his allotment of procrastinating—he told me at 8 pm that it was due the next morning. We completed an essay, a drawing, and a character comparison in 90 minutes. And we (er, he) managed to get a B on it!

Was I slightly annoyed? For sure. But did I love working with him to get it done in record time? Absolutely.

High school seniors on Homecoming in the stands. Four of the girls have their faces blurred out. On the far right is Margie Creen. She is holding a pom-pom to her face and is leaning in. They are sitting in bleachers.

As an adult, I don’t have teachers telling me to do something. To appease my inner student, I create new businesses.

There’s so much to do and so much to enjoy!

Research and Development—Testing wicks, wax, scents, and temperatures
Business—Sourcing, purchasing, tracking inventory, budgeting*, acquiring insurance and licenses, and navigating QuickBooks
Marketing—Photography, website design, blogging, social media (connect with me on Bluesky and LinkedIn), and ordering cute matches with my logo on them
Sales—Attend in-person events, networking, and wholesale outreach
Manufacturing—When in doubt, make more candles

Over the shoulder shot of Margie taking product photos. A candle is on display on a wood box with white light reflectors around it. There are candles around and a fake background.

There is always something to do—and the best part is I can jump around as much as I want. I’m trying to incorporate one of those tri-fold science fair displays, but so far, no luck.

Are you a former child who is yearning for learning? I highly recommend launching your own business! It can be about whatever you want, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Just make sure you get the necessary licenses and what not to make sure everything is legal and reputable.

Good luck, fellow students!

*In the loosest sense of the word.

Yearning for Learning

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