back in school, we learned what we were taught by the teachers, at their pace (or the average pace of the whole class), and more often than not, we were not satisfied with that way of learning and sometimes we preferred self-study more (which we couldn’t because we needed to follow the school rules and got examined at the end of each semester).
and then after graduation, we do need to mainly reply on self-study for new skills and what is required by the work. while enjoying the obvious advantages of self-study, like learning at our own pace, making better use of our time and getting as deeper as we can for what interests us most, etc. we also see the disadvantages, especially when we learn something that is not directly related to our work. take an example, we learn designing (Photoshop or Illustrator), we can practice and get a good understanding of how the tools work and the general designing rules and skills, but we have not confidence or not clear clue on what kind of level we are at and our skills can not get improved by actual working experience or solid and serious requirements on related skills. we might know how to manipulate pictures, how to draw shadows and how to make the manipulated pictures more genuine, but somehow something is missing and this missing something is more important when it comes to solid skills and probably that’s what makes differences between amateurish players and real experts. guess that’s also why many companies require working experience when they recruit new staff as they at least have a basic sense of how the work is done and how it can get improved.
but as the old saying goes, where there’s a will, there is a way. we can find a way to put what we have learnt into practice and become more skilled and professional in what we like if we carry on and never give up, but it might needs much more efforts compared with the “traditional way”. and also as the traditional Chinese saying goes, 怕什么真理无穷，进一寸有一寸的欢喜.
Cheers!