I am the eldest in my family. Therefore, I have to set a good example for my siblings. The pressure is on, even today. Education was and is, one of the most important subjects in my family. I cannot speak ill of a subject that has dominated most of my life.
In my opinion, it is important for everyone to get an education. If we rely sorely on our experiences to guide us, we draw from a very shallow pool of information. Help and advice from friends may not fill the void, or answer all the things we do not know. I knew I wanted to go to school early on. At first I was driven by curiosity. However, it has since occurred to me that I could earn a living from what I have learned. That is when my sweet dream turned sour.
I started counting my chickens long before they hatched. I thought of the money I was going to make when all schooling was over. Nobody ever mentioned that my commitment to education would or should last a lifetime. I thought I was done when I graduated from high school, but that was just the preamble. I couldn’t possibly quit at the start of a race, could I? My mother was quick to answer. She said no.
I went to college immediately after high school. I loved almost every minute of college life. It was in college where I first saw the light. I could never learn everything. Joyce, a friend of mine is coming to terms with the fact that education is a life journey. She went back to school right after her baby was born. According to her, careful planning is crucial. However, it is equally important to rally support from family. It is what allows her to pursue her dream.
We hear a lot about free education, but we fail to understand that there are some who cannot avail themselves of the free lessons. We are surprised that anyone could pass up the chance of a lifetime. Education is as important now as it was decades ago. When a teacher could have their pick of the world, and any knowledge of computers was awe-inspiring. Today, being educated is not as distinguishing as it was then. There are more and more skills needed to fit into the workplace. There are so many qualified people for the available jobs, and applicants find that they have to display an array of skills to get employment.
In spite of the fact that competition for education and employment is very high, there are more fields to explore. There are questions we need to answer for our generation and I think education is the key.
2 comments:
I really enjoyed your post. I am fourth of five children. I don’t remember when I started knowing, but I always knew I would attend college. My mother was a college graduate but my father joined the Army and didn’t have the opportunity to go. It was always a dream of his to see all of his children attend college.
I have a memory of being in the second or third grade and wearing a North Dakota State University t-shirt. My brother was probably a freshman that year and I told people then that I was going to go to NDSU. And, I did.
But, I too thought first about money in the sense that I wanted a glamorous career. I wanted to leave my small town and move to the big city. I wanted to have a fancy job. Until, I moved to the big city and got and entry-level position in what could become a fancy job. That when “life” educated me and I realized I didn’t want a job that only benefited the boss. I wanted a job that in some small way benefited others.
I went back to school and I have been involved in education ever since. I have been teaching for 15 years and am always taking classes. There is always something to learn. I don’t think I’ll ever be done learning.
Education is as important as it always has been. As educators, we get to help other people’s dreams come true. We get to help answer the questions of our generation.
Carla Ecklund
I loved your post. I agree education is a crucial key for the next generation. You mentioned education is just as important now as it once was. I would argue it is now more important. Thirty years ago you could get a good job out of high school and support your family, often having a better life than the generation before you. Many of those jobs came from factories and other manual labor. Now we don’t have as many factories, and far fewer blue collar jobs. The US Census Bureau reported that this generation may be the first to not financially succeed their parents. With so many people and so few jobs, education provides an advantage necessary to preserving quality of life. Unfortunately, much of this generation, or at least the ones I see on a day to day basis, has little interest in furthering education. They view the current free education as more of a punishment than a gift. I wish more students could see education the way you do. Only time will tell how our society will be affected by the generation’s current unanswered questions.
~Bethany Stacy
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