'Don't kill your passion'

Since it was published in February, "Educated: A Memoir," has been hailed as "a heartbreaking, heartwarming, best-in-years memoir" by USA Today and it quickly became a New York Times bestseller.

The book's author, Tara Westover, visited the University of Idaho campus Monday and delivered an address discussing the book as part of the UI Common Read.

"Educated: A Memoir" is a first-hand account of growing up with insular, survivalist parents suspicious of the world and its institutions - including public schools - and certain of a looming apocalypse. The book chronicles Westover's journey through trauma and self-education, her eventual acceptance to Brigham Young University, Cambridge and Harvard, and the irreversible effects her experiences in the world had on her relationship with her family.

Westover said the process of writing the book was, among other things, a form of personal catharsis, but it was also a way to reach out to those who have had similar experiences. Many people have difficult family relationships, Westover said, and stories that can relate to such experiences can help people process those relationships and understand themselves.

"There's a great value in people talking about difficult relationships, because - for one thing - it helps people feel like they're not alone," Westover said. "If you read someone else's story, you work out how you feel about their life, and then you work out how you feel about the choices they made, and then you work out how you feel about your own life and the choices that you've had to make."

Barred by her parents from attending public school, Westover took control of her own education as a teenager, teaching herself complex math and literature, eventually being accepted to BYU, where she graduated magna cum laude and subsequently earned a scholarship to Cambridge. There she earned a master's degree and a doctorate.

Westover said one of the major lessons she has learned through her unique educational experience is the value in separating education from school. She said while it is important to engage in the requirements and resources of institutions, it is also important to take control over personal learning.

"Any curriculum you design for yourself is going to be better than one that's designed for you," Westover said. "You should do the things that are helpful to you very specifically, nobody learns the same way and not every writer speaks to every reader - so if a writer doesn't speak to you, I don't care if it's Shakespeare, don't read it."

If there were a moral to her story, Westover said, it would advise readers to handle passion - in oneself and others - with care. Enthusiasm is fragile and easily extinguished, Westover said, but if nurtured properly, it will carry people forward.

"Don't kill your passions, don't kill anybody's passions, actually, because passion is pretty rare and it's unusual and it's the thing that makes people do things - it's the reason you get out of bed, and sometimes getting out of bed is hard," Westover said. "If you really love something, I would say go for that - you may or may not end up doing that, but it will propel you places, it will change the status quo of your life."

Scott Jackson can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to sjackson@dnews.com.