Learning as a Collective Effort

The Door to Learning

Imagine you have a door in front of you. A door that is between where you are now and where you want to get to. For some people, that door is wide open. For other people, it's only just a crack. And for many, like I did growing up, it often seems like there is no door at all.

Where I came from, learning was never just about information. It was about survival. It was about creating that door, about opening doors that otherwise would have been closed. Growing up, I saw how learning changed lives, not just as a means of acquiring information, but as a means of acquiring resilience and a future.

I was born during the war in East Timor, and my family started over in Kupang. As with so many others, we adjusted, learned how to move on, and education was an integral part of that. In our home, education wasn't just encouraged. It was imperative. I remember my parents sacrificing so that we could keep going to school, knowing that every step ahead in learning opened doors. In East Nusa Tenggara, often labeled as a daerah 3T (tertinggal, terdepan, dan terluar), the pursuit of education is about perseverance. It's not always easy, but the idea that learning yields something better encourages individuals to persevere.

Lessons from Conflict and Sacrifice

The war in East Timor shaped my earliest lessons on ambiguity. I was too young to understand the seriousness of what was happening, but I remember the tension, the urgency, and the necessity to suddenly leave everything behind. Starting anew in Kupang, I discovered that stability is never guaranteed, and that knowledge can never be stolen. That consciousness turned education from a responsibility; it was a source of power, a way of reconstituting and redefining the possible.

I also learned sacrifice. My mom often went to Kantor Pegadaian (the pawnshop office) to sell her jewelry in exchange for school fees because she believed that education was worth more than any asset she owned. I did not quite realize it at the time, but later on when I matured, I understood that learning was not only for personal growth - it was honoring those sacrifices. It was ensuring that knowledge amounts to something other than personal victory.

Because the truth is, learning is always a collective act. It is a collective effort, guided by the efforts of those who have worked before us. Whether it's a mother selling her jewelry, a teacher staying late to help struggling students, or a whole city coming together to save a school. Lifelong learning is based on the choices of many. Where I came from, we get to learn because someone else worked for it. We move forward because others blazed the trail. And that's why lifelong learning isn't really about ambition at an individual level. It's about responsibility. It's about applying what we learn to create opportunities for others.

The Nature of Lifelong Learning

Learning is not just about advancement. It's also about accepting uncertainty. Society sometimes leads us to believe that we have to possess all the answers by a specific age. The dream job, stability, and a clear plan. But the truth is, no one has it all sorted out. Lifelong learning is about accepting that. It's about understanding that growth isn't a straight line. It's in the failures as much as in the successes.

Lifelong learning is not only about personal achievement. It's about creating a difference. What we learn must be shared, to motivate others, to upend systems that need to be upended. And now, as a researcher in public health policy myself, I've come to understand that research only works if it makes it to the people who must hear it. Those policies are useless if they don't lead to action. That learning is most powerful when it empowers communities, not individuals.

And learning doesn’t always happen in structured settings. It happens in conversations, in moments of struggle, in unexpected opportunities. Some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned didn’t come from textbooks or lectures but from experience. Navigating uncertainty, making mistakes, and adapting along the way. The ability to keep learning, to keep growing, is what truly allows us to move forward.

Adapting to a Changing World

Today, information is evolving faster than ever before. Skills, which were once the essentials, are becoming obsolete, and there are new challenges requiring new types of thinking. That is why learning for life is not just a matter of choice. It is a necessity. Whether it is at work, in society, or in personal development, the desire to keep learning is what makes one developed. We are no longer students of formal schooling. We are students of life itself.

Closing Thoughts 

And if there is one thing I can say for sure, it's this: Learning doesn't stop. It evolves. It causes us to change, to rethink, to push forward even when the answers aren't clear.

I started this journey during a time of uncertainty, when my family had to leave everything behind and rebuild from ground zero. Learning became our anchor and our way forward. It wasn’t just about gaining knowledge, but how much you’re willing to explore. It’s about using education not just as a tool for personal success, but as a means to lift others up, to break barriers, and to create pathways for those who come next.