How I actually learn?
Why visual learning and real mentorship matter more than textbooks.
How I Actually Learn
I'm realizing now why I never truly understood accounting and Excel.
I took classes. I passed. But I never became an expert.
I learned basic functions—SUM, AVERAGE, maybe a VLOOKUP if I squint hard enough—but it never fully clicked.
Because I'm someone who learns by watching.
That's how I learn.
Show me.
Don't just hand me a textbook and expect me to figure it out.
At Diablo Valley College, I was tested for a learning disability. Looking back at those results now, I see it more clearly.
I'm not broken.
I just don't learn the way they taught me.
And technical schools and poor teaching methods don't give students an advantage when they teach from the book instead of teaching to the student.
My mother always showed me the way and helped me get to where I am today. She didn't just say, "Do your homework."
She sat with me.
She walked me through it.
She showed me step by step until it made sense.
That's how I got here.
Not because I'm incapable.
Because someone showed me.
Education Is Important
Education is incredibly important.
But it is equally important to have professors and teachers who can teach you and show you the way—not simply give you information and expect you to learn.
Slides aren't teaching.
Worksheets aren't teaching.
"Read Chapter 4" isn't teaching.
Students need educators who can connect concepts to real understanding.
Minority students, especially, often learn differently. Many of us come from homes where survival was the curriculum and where trauma was the tutor.
We need better educators who teach through examples and create pathways that help students truly understand.
Show me on the board.
Work through it with me.
Let me fail safely and try again.
Don't just grade me and move on.
I'm 51, and I'm still a PhD student in training—of myself, of systems, and of how my brain works.
I learn by watching.
By doing.
By repetition.
By story.
If you show me, I'll get it.
If you only tell me, I'll drown.
That's why I budget on paper first.
That's why I turn to YouTube tutorials for Excel.
Because someone showed me.
And now I show others.
We don't need more homework.
We need more teachers.
Cathryn M. Murray
Salem, Oregon | August 1, 2026
