Article Description
Education can give a student knowledge, skills, qualifications and access to opportunities, but true wisdom teaches a person how to use those abilities responsibly. The Bible declares that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” reminding us that a successful life needs more than academic achievement, technical competence or professional recognition. This article explores why students should cultivate a meaningful relationship with God while pursuing their education and preparing for careers, families, church service and responsible citizenship. It examines how faith, character, integrity, discipline, humility, compassion and service can complement technical and academic knowledge to produce well-rounded people who can contribute positively to their homes, churches, workplaces, communities and country. It also connects these principles to the Institute of Advanced Technology (IAT), encouraging both current and prospective students to pursue skills, excellence and personal development while allowing strong values and a relationship with God to guide the way they use their knowledge.
Estimated Reading Time for Different Categories of Readers
- A student interested in personal growth, education, faith and career preparation can expect to spend approximately 12-15 minutes reading this article carefully.
- A parent or guardian seeking guidance on developing a young person’s character alongside education may need approximately 10-12 minutes.
- A teacher, lecturer, mentor or youth leader may take approximately 8-10 minutes when reading primarily for ideas they can share with learners.
- A church leader or Christian youth worker may spend approximately 8-10 minutes focusing on the spiritual and character-development aspects.
- General readers interested in the relationship between education, faith, character, family and national development can expect approximately 12-15 minutes.
When Knowledge Is Not Enough
Imagine a young person who has excellent grades, impressive technical abilities, several certificates and a promising career ahead, but who has no sense of integrity, responsibility or accountability. Imagine giving advanced technology to someone who knows how to operate it but does not care whether it is used to protect or exploit other people. Imagine entrusting an organization’s finances to someone who understands accounting but considers dishonesty acceptable whenever an opportunity arises. Imagine placing a highly skilled professional in a position of responsibility when that person has knowledge but lacks humility, compassion, self-control and respect for other people. These examples remind us that education becomes truly powerful when knowledge is accompanied by wisdom and character.
The world needs educated people, but it also needs trustworthy people. Kenya needs programmers who will protect information, accountants who will respect financial integrity, business professionals who will deal honestly with clients, technicians who will perform their work responsibly, managers who will treat employees fairly and entrepreneurs who will create value without exploiting others. Technical knowledge answers the question, “How can I do this?” while wisdom asks, “Should I do this, why should I do it and how should I do it responsibly?” The difference is profound because knowledge can increase a person’s ability, while wisdom helps determine how that ability should be used. This is why education should develop the whole person rather than simply produce people who can pass examinations.
What Does It Mean to Fear the Lord?
When the Bible speaks about the fear of the Lord, it is not primarily describing terror or the fear that makes someone run away from God. It points toward reverence, respect, humility, obedience and recognition that God is greater than human beings and that life has moral accountability. Proverbs 9:10 declares that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” placing reverence for God at the foundation of wisdom rather than treating spiritual life as an optional addition to education. The message is particularly relevant to students because it teaches that genuine wisdom begins with recognizing that knowledge should be used responsibly and that human abilities should ultimately serve purposes greater than personal pride.
The same principle is expressed in Proverbs 1:7, which teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and connects learning with humility and instruction. This is particularly relevant to students because education requires humility and teachability. A student who believes they already know everything stops learning, while a student who recognizes the value of instruction becomes willing to listen, ask questions, accept correction and improve. The fear of the Lord therefore encourages an attitude that can strengthen both spiritual development and academic growth. It teaches students that intelligence should not produce arrogance but should produce greater responsibility, gratitude and willingness to learn.
Wisdom Is More Than Intelligence
A person can be highly intelligent without consistently making wise decisions. Intelligence can help someone understand complicated concepts, solve technical problems and process large amounts of information, but wisdom involves applying knowledge appropriately in real-life situations. James 1:5 encourages those who lack wisdom to ask God for it, reminding believers that wisdom should be actively sought rather than assumed. For a student, this means that prayer and reflection can become part of the learning journey rather than activities reserved only for moments of crisis. A wise student asks not only how to succeed academically but also how to remain honest, disciplined, humble, responsible and useful to others.
The biblical picture of a well-developed person is beautifully reflected in Luke 2:52, which says that Jesus “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” This presents development as multidimensional rather than one-dimensional. There was growth in wisdom, physical development, relationship with God and relationship with people. Students can learn from this balanced picture because education should ideally help them develop intellectually, socially, professionally, morally and spiritually. A qualification may open a door, but the character of the person walking through that door often determines what happens afterward.
Why Students Need a Relationship with God
Students face many decisions that cannot be answered simply by textbooks or classroom notes. They must choose friends, manage relationships, handle pressure, respond to temptation, decide how to use technology, manage money, deal with failure, respond to success and determine what values will guide their future. A genuine relationship with God can give students a moral and spiritual framework within which these decisions can be considered. Jesus taught that people should love God with all their heart, soul and mind, demonstrating that faith is not meant to exclude intellectual development but to involve the whole person as guided in Matthew 22:37.A student’s relationship with God can therefore become a foundation upon which learning, decision-making and personal responsibility are built.
A relationship with God also gives students an opportunity to develop habits of prayer, reflection, gratitude, repentance and self-discipline. These habits can help a student pause before making impulsive decisions and consider the consequences of their choices. They can also provide encouragement when academic pressure, financial difficulties, uncertainty about the future or personal disappointment becomes overwhelming. Faith does not mean that students will never experience difficulties, but it can help them approach difficulties with hope, humility and perseverance. The goal should not be to use religion as a shortcut around hard work but to allow faith to strengthen the character and attitude with which hard work is pursued.
Education, Character and Moral Uprightness
A student’s education should answer two important questions: “What can I do?” and “What kind of person am I becoming?” The first question is addressed through technical and academic training, while the second involves character, values, relationships and personal responsibility. This is why moral uprightness should not be regarded as something completely separate from career development. Employers, clients, families, churches and communities all need people who can be trusted with responsibilities. A technically competent person who cannot be trusted can create serious problems, while a skilled and trustworthy person can become an asset wherever they serve.
The Bible provides a powerful framework for this kind of character development. Galatians 5:22-23 describes the fruit of the Spirit through qualities including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These qualities matter in classrooms, laboratories, offices, businesses, workshops, churches and homes. A student who learns patience may become a better team member, while a student who develops faithfulness may become a dependable employee or entrepreneur. A student who learns kindness and self-control can influence other people positively even when under pressure.
Academic Excellence and Spiritual Excellence Can Work Together
There is no contradiction between pursuing excellent academic performance and maintaining a strong relationship with God. In fact, faith can encourage students to approach their studies with greater discipline and purpose. Colossians 3:23 teaches believers to work wholeheartedly, as though their work is being done for the Lord rather than merely for people. This attitude can transform studying from a race for marks into an exercise in stewardship, where the student recognizes that their abilities, opportunities and time should be used responsibly. Excellence then becomes not merely a means of impressing other people but part of a broader commitment to doing one’s best.
This principle is especially relevant in technical education because practical skills require patience, repetition and discipline. A student learning programming, networking, cybersecurity, data analysis, accounting, graphic design, digital marketing or another professional skill cannot become competent merely by attending classes. They must practice, make mistakes, seek correction and keep improving. IAT’s ICT programme, for example, describes practical training covering areas such as networks, software applications, hardware, cybersecurity, databases and emerging technologies, illustrating the importance of combining knowledge with practical competence. Students should therefore take their practical training seriously while also developing the character required to use those skills responsibly.
Why Technical and Academic Knowledge Still Matters
Spiritual growth should never be used as an excuse for academic laziness. God-given opportunities for education should be taken seriously because knowledge and skills can become powerful tools for service, employment, entrepreneurship and national development. A student should therefore work hard, attend lessons, practice technical skills, complete assignments, read widely, ask questions and seek professional competence. The Ministry of Education in Kenya describes its mission in terms of quality education, training, research and the integration of science, technology and innovation into national production systems. This reinforces the importance of education as a foundation for individual and national development.
The key issue is therefore not whether students should pursue technical knowledge or spiritual development, but whether they can develop both. Technical competence can make a person capable, while wisdom can help make that capability responsible. Academic knowledge can open doors, while character can help a person remain trustworthy after entering those doors. Professional certification can demonstrate what someone has learned, while integrity demonstrates what that person is prepared to do with what they have learned. The strongest educational journey therefore develops the mind, the hands, the character and the sense of responsibility.
Becoming Useful to the Family
One of the most meaningful outcomes of education is the ability to become a source of strength to one’s family. A young person who develops skills, character and a strong work ethic can eventually contribute to household stability and help parents, siblings, a spouse and children. However, financial contribution alone does not make someone a great family member. Families also need people who can communicate, forgive, remain faithful, exercise responsibility, respect others and make decisions guided by sound values. Spiritual maturity can help students understand that future success should not come at the expense of family relationships.
The Bible places considerable emphasis on teaching and nurturing the next generation. Proverbs 22:6 encourages intentional training of children, reminding families that formation extends beyond academic instruction. Students should therefore begin preparing for family responsibility long before they marry or become parents. The habits developed during college years can later influence how a person manages money, treats a spouse, raises children, handles conflict and responds to responsibility. Becoming a wholesome person today is therefore part of preparing to build a healthy family tomorrow.
Becoming a Blessing to the Church
Students should also understand that their professional abilities can become valuable instruments of service within the church. A person trained in ICT can support digital communication, cybersecurity, websites, databases and media systems. Someone with accounting or business skills can assist with financial administration and planning, while a designer can help communicate the church’s message through creative media. A person trained in project management, data analysis or other professional fields can bring valuable organizational capabilities to ministry and community initiatives. Skills do not have to be separated from faith because they can become tools through which faith is expressed through service.
The church also needs young people whose character reflects their faith in everyday life. 1st Timothy 4:12 encourages young believers to become examples in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. This is a powerful reminder that young people do not need to wait until they become older before becoming positive influences. A student can demonstrate Christian character in a classroom by refusing to cheat, in a group assignment by doing their share of the work, online by communicating respectfully and in friendships by showing loyalty and compassion. Spiritual influence begins with everyday choices rather than public titles.
Becoming Useful to Other People
Education should expand a person’s capacity to serve others. The purpose of acquiring a skill should not be limited to personal income, status or recognition. A trained person can use their knowledge to solve problems, create employment, develop products, protect information, improve services, mentor others and contribute to community development. Ephesians 2:10 presents believers as God’s workmanship created for good works, providing a powerful perspective for students because abilities and opportunities can be viewed as resources that should be used constructively. Students should therefore ask not only what career they can pursue but also what problems they can eventually help solve.
The value of this principle becomes clearer when students consider the people who may benefit from their future work. A cybersecurity professional may protect a small business from devastating attacks, a software developer may create a service that makes someone’s work easier, a business graduate may create employment, a graphic designer may help a small enterprise communicate its products and a trained technician may help a family access an important service. The possibilities are numerous because every profession touches human lives in some way. Students should therefore learn to think beyond salaries and ask how their abilities can become useful to other people. When you are useful to other people salaries come in naturally.A career becomes especially meaningful when professional competence is connected with service and responsibility.
Building a Better Kenya
Kenya needs educated citizens, but it also needs citizens of integrity. The Kenya Ministry of Education identifies transparency, accountability, integrity, excellence, teamwork, professionalism, ethical decision-making, innovation and creativity among its core values. This demonstrates that character is not merely a private religious concern but is also relevant to the development of competent and responsible citizens. A technically skilled generation with strong moral values can contribute meaningfully to businesses, public institutions, churches, families and communities. Students should therefore recognize that their personal development is connected to the future of the country.
The Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) also identifies integrity, professionalism, accountability, teamwork and efficiency among its core values. This is significant for students pursuing technical and vocational careers because it demonstrates that employability involves more than possessing technical skills. A professional is expected to accept responsibility, work effectively with others, act with integrity and maintain appropriate standards. These qualities strongly complement the Christian values of honesty, faithfulness, humility and service. Students should therefore view character development as an essential part of becoming a responsible professional.
The IAT Student: Skills with Purpose
At the Institute of Advanced Technology (IAT), students have access to ICT, business and professional training opportunities designed to prepare learners for a technology-driven economy. IAT describes its approach as emphasizing hands-on learning, industry partnerships and practical preparation that bridges academic theory and real-world practice. This provides an important environment for students who want to develop practical abilities, but the qualification is only one part of the journey. The person receiving the qualification matters just as much as the qualification itself. A student should therefore leave college not only knowing more but also becoming more responsible, disciplined and useful.
Students and prospective learners can explore the institution’s IAT Courses page to see the current range of programmes and training opportunities. The current course catalogue includes areas such as AI, data analysis, cybersecurity-related training, programming and other technology and professional programmes. Students should consider how their interests, abilities and career aspirations can be matched with appropriate training. However, regardless of the course selected, the principles of integrity, discipline, humility and service should remain constant. A person who combines professional competence with strong character can become valuable in almost any workplace or community.
Why Prospective Students Should Consider IAT
For young people currently deciding where to pursue technical or professional training, the choice of institution should involve more than comparing course names and fees. Students should consider the relevance of training, practical exposure, learning environment, programme options, certification pathways and opportunities for continued development. IAT provides detailed Admission Requirements explaining programme entry requirements and application procedures, giving prospective learners a useful starting point for planning their education journey. The institution also provides information about its programmes, campuses and application process so that prospective students can make informed decisions.
Students interested in programming can explore IAT’s Computer Programming course, which focuses on practical software-development skills and includes Python, Java and R.Students interested in information security can also explore IAT’s, which include areas such as ISO 27001, secure computer use, information security management and related professional areas. These examples demonstrate how technical education can provide practical capabilities, but students should remember that technical competence must be accompanied by ethical responsibility. The more powerful a person’s skills become, the greater the responsibility to use those skills wisely.
A Word to Current IAT Students
To every student currently at IAT, remember that your college years are shaping more than your academic or professional future. Every assignment you complete honestly, every practical exercise you take seriously, every lecturer you respect and every challenge you overcome is contributing to the person you are becoming. Do not wait until graduation to start developing discipline, integrity, humility and responsibility. Your future employer, clients, family, church and community will benefit from the character you develop now.
Make prayer, study, practical training and personal reflection part of your routine. If you are a Christian, cultivate a consistent relationship with God through prayer, Scripture reading, worship, fellowship and obedience rather than treating faith as something you remember only when examinations approach. Joshua 1:8 connects meditation on God’s instruction with careful obedience and purposeful living. Let your spiritual growth strengthen your academic journey rather than compete with it.
Practical Ways Students Can Build a Stronger Relationship with God
Students can begin by setting aside regular time for prayer and Scripture reading, even when their schedules are busy. They can participate meaningfully in church fellowship, Christian student groups and other healthy communities that encourage accountability and spiritual growth. They can also practice their faith through ordinary decisions such as refusing academic dishonesty, rejecting destructive relationships, managing their time responsibly and treating other people with respect. Romans 12:2 encourages believers not to be shaped by harmful patterns but to experience transformation through the renewing of the mind. These practices can gradually shape a student’s thinking, choices and priorities.
Students should also learn to bring their academic and career decisions before God. When choosing a course, searching for employment, considering entrepreneurship, developing a business idea or facing an important personal decision, they can pray for wisdom while also seeking competent advice and doing appropriate research. Faith does not eliminate responsibility or the need for careful planning. Instead, it can encourage students to combine prayer with diligence, reflection, wise counsel and ethical decision-making. James 1:5 provides a direct invitation to ask God for wisdom, making this an especially valuable principle for students navigating an uncertain future.
Let Your Light Shine Through Your Skills
One of the most powerful ways a Christian student can demonstrate faith is through excellence and good conduct. Jesus taught in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before others,” connecting visible good works with the glory of God. This means that Christian identity should become visible through actions rather than merely through words. A student who is honest when cheating would be easy, respectful when others are disrespectful and helpful when there is nothing to gain personally can become a powerful example. Such conduct can influence classmates and colleagues without requiring a person to give a long speech about faith.
This principle also applies after graduation. A graduate who enters the workplace with integrity can influence organizational culture, while an entrepreneur who treats employees fairly can create a healthier business environment. A professional who refuses corruption, protects confidential information and delivers quality work can demonstrate that competence and character belong together. A Christian professional can therefore serve God through ordinary professional responsibilities. The workplace, business environment, family and community can all become places where a person’s values are demonstrated through consistent conduct.
Building Great Families Begins with Becoming a Great Person
Many young people dream of eventually having successful careers and strong families, but great families are rarely built accidentally. They require people who have developed patience, responsibility, emotional maturity, faithfulness, communication skills and the willingness to make sacrifices for others. Students therefore have an opportunity today to cultivate qualities that will influence their future relationships. The way a person handles a disagreement with a classmate may reveal habits that later appear in marriage, while the way someone manages money as a student can influence how they manage a household later. Character development is therefore preparation for future family life.
A strong relationship with God can help students understand that family should not be treated merely as a source of personal comfort. Marriage and parenthood involve service, responsibility, forgiveness, sacrifice and commitment. Students who learn to respect people, keep promises, manage responsibilities and control destructive impulses are developing qualities that can strengthen future families. They should also understand that professional success should not become an excuse for neglecting spouses, children, parents or other loved ones. A truly wholesome life seeks to balance achievement with relationships, service, faith and responsibility.
Life Skills and Wholesome Development
Modern education increasingly recognizes that young people require more than technical knowledge to navigate life successfully. UNICEF guide to Adolescents and Life Skills Education describes life skills as cognitive, personal and interpersonal abilities that can help young people think critically, solve problems, communicate effectively, build healthy relationships, empathize with others and develop self-worth. These abilities complement technical training because professional life requires people to communicate, cooperate, solve problems and handle challenges. From a Christian perspective, many of these qualities can also be strengthened through spiritual formation and the development of virtues such as patience, kindness, humility and self-control. Students therefore benefit when education addresses both what they know and how they live.
This is why a student should not consider character development to be somebody else’s responsibility. Lecturers can teach, parents can guide, churches can encourage and institutions can provide opportunities, but students must ultimately choose whether they will practice integrity and responsibility. Every day presents opportunities to develop habits that will shape future professional and family life. A student can choose honesty when dishonesty appears easier, discipline when distraction is more attractive and service when selfishness seems more convenient. Over time, these choices become part of the person’s character.
Wisdom for Life, Work and Leadership
The fear of the Lord provides a framework for understanding that success is ultimately bigger than money or status. A person can accumulate wealth and still experience broken relationships, compromised integrity and a lack of meaningful purpose. Another person may have a modest beginning but live with extraordinary faithfulness, compassion and positive influence. The biblical concept of wisdom encourages people to consider the quality and direction of their lives rather than merely the size of their achievements. This is particularly important for students because their choices today can establish patterns that influence decades of their future.
Micah 6:8 provides a concise picture of wholesome living by calling people to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. These three ideas provide a valuable framework for students preparing to enter professional life. Justice speaks to fairness and integrity, mercy speaks to compassion and concern for others, and walking humbly with God speaks to spiritual dependence and accountability. A person who develops these qualities alongside technical competence can become useful in ways that go far beyond a job description. Such a person can become a dependable professional, responsible family member, committed church member, caring neighbour and constructive citizen.
The IAT Opportunity: Prepare for the Future
IAT’s training environment provides opportunities for students to build practical skills that can support careers in technology and business. The institution’s About IAT information provides additional background on its training focus and institutional role. Students can also explore IAT’s Career Center as part of thinking about how training connects with professional development. These resources should encourage students to think beyond merely completing a course and instead consider the broader journey from learning to competence, employment, entrepreneurship and service. The ultimate goal should be to become a person whose skills can create value for other people.
IAT also operates a Testing Center supporting professional certification pathways and examinations. Certification can strengthen a professional profile, but students should remember that credentials and character answer different questions. A certificate can demonstrate that a person has achieved particular learning outcomes, while character is demonstrated through conduct over time. Employers, clients, families and communities eventually encounter the person behind the certificate. This is why students should pursue both professional excellence and personal integrity.
The Goal: A Wholesome and Useful Person
The ultimate goal of education should be the development of people who can think well, work effectively, live responsibly and serve others. Technical skills are extremely important because they enable people to solve problems and participate meaningfully in the economy. Academic knowledge is important because it expands understanding and prepares people to engage with complex issues. Spiritual and moral formation is important because it helps individuals consider the ethical and human consequences of how they use their knowledge. When these dimensions develop together, education can produce people who are not only employable but also trustworthy, responsible and useful.
This is why students should resist the temptation to measure their entire worth by examination results, certificates, job titles or salaries. Those achievements matter, but they do not tell the whole story of a person’s life. A person should also ask whether they are becoming honest, compassionate, disciplined, faithful, humble, courageous and willing to serve. They should ask whether their success is strengthening or damaging their family relationships and whether their professional skills are benefiting or harming other people. The strongest form of success is one in which achievement and character grow together.
Your Education Can Become Your Ministry of Service
Not every student will become a pastor, missionary or church leader, but every student can become a person who serves God and others through their abilities. A programmer can create useful solutions, a cybersecurity professional can protect organizations, a businessperson can create employment, an accountant can promote financial responsibility, a designer can communicate important messages and a technician can solve practical problems. The specific profession may differ, but the opportunity to serve remains. This perspective changes the way students think about their careers because work becomes more than a way of earning money; it becomes one avenue through which their abilities can contribute to society.
For IAT students and prospective students, this means taking their training seriously while also taking their character seriously. The institution can provide courses, trainers, facilities and practical opportunities, but each learner must decide what kind of person they will become. Students should leave college with more than certificates; they should leave with confidence, competence, discipline, integrity, respect for others and a desire to keep learning. They should be ready to contribute to their families, serve their churches, create opportunities, solve problems and participate positively in Kenya’s development. This is the kind of holistic preparation that can make education genuinely transformative.
A Challenge to Every Student
If you are a student reading this, ask yourself some honest questions. What kind of person am I becoming while I pursue my education, and what values will guide me when nobody is watching? Am I pursuing knowledge simply so that I can earn money, or am I preparing myself to become useful to other people? Am I developing my relationship with God with the same seriousness with which I develop my professional skills? Am I becoming the kind of future employee, entrepreneur, spouse, parent, church member, leader and citizen that people will be able to trust?
If you are a prospective student, your education journey can be more than a search for a certificate. Consider an institution where you can develop practical skills and professional confidence while taking personal responsibility for developing your spiritual and moral life. You can explore IAT’s current courses and training opportunities and then review the admission information to determine what may fit your educational goal. For current information about programmes, campuses and application procedures, prospective learners can also contact IAT directly through its official contact channels.
Key Take Away: Seek Knowledge, Pursue Wisdom, Walk with God
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom because it places human knowledge within a larger framework of purpose, responsibility and accountability. Students need technical and academic knowledge because the modern world requires competent professionals who can solve problems and create opportunities. They also need wisdom because knowledge without character can be misused, while skill without integrity can become harmful to individuals, organizations and society. They need strong relationships with God because spiritual formation can help them develop humility, discipline, compassion, faithfulness and a sense of responsibility toward other people. When knowledge, skills, character and faith grow together, a student can become a truly wholesome person.
The dream should therefore be bigger than simply graduating, getting a job or earning money. The dream should be to become a person who is useful to God, valuable to family, helpful to the church, beneficial to the community, responsible in the workplace and constructive in the nation. Let today’s student become tomorrow’s honest professional, responsible parent, faithful church member, ethical entrepreneur, dependable colleague and compassionate citizen. Let education build the mind, let character shape the conduct, let skills create opportunities and let a relationship with God provide wisdom for the journey. As Proverbs 9:10 reminds us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”; therefore, seek knowledge, pursue excellence, develop your skills and, above all, walk with God as you build your future.
About the Blog Writer
Dennis Njeru is a business, technology and education professional with more than 10 years of experience spanning management, finance, human resources, information technology, digital marketing and business operations. His multidisciplinary background allows him to examine technology not only from a technical perspective but also through the lens of education, career development, entrepreneurship and business transformation.
Dennis is passionate about ICT education, digital skills development and inspiring young people to pursue careers in technology, be God-fearing, morally upright, be wholesome and quality global citizen. His writing focuses on making complex technology topics relatable while connecting them to practical opportunities for students and aspiring professionals.
He encourages young aspiring technology professionals to explore areas such as software engineering, programming, artificial intelligence, data science, networking, databases and cybersecurity.
Dennis believes that the next great technology solution could come from Kenya, Africa and from a young person who chooses to learn today. His goal is to use practical and inspirational storytelling to help students move from simply consuming technology to understanding, creating and using it to solve real-world problems.