Basil
Miranda
English
1A
Wednesday Night
Education
& Me
“Education: the knowledge, skill, and understanding that you get from
attending a school, college, or university” as defined in the Merriam Webster
Encyclopedia. It's hard to quantify the importance of education in one's life.
From the time we take our first breath when we are born we are constantly being
educated in all facets of life. Learning new things is what helps us grow as a
person. The more knowledge you obtain, the more well rounded a person you will
become. The more well rounded people we have, the better off society will be.
Education is the key to advancing as a society. With the exceptions of winning
the lottery or being born into a wealthy family, the only way to compete in
today's landscape is by acquiring an education from a university or acquiring
skills from a trade school. That is the reason I am here at Chabot. There is so
much competition for the limited employment opportunities available that you
need to do something to help improve your chances of landing one of those jobs.
Having a degree is almost a prerequisite nowadays. Without one or knowing
someone in high places you do not have a very good chance of earning a good
living. The period we live in now is the greatest separation of wealth in human
history. There are the wealthy and the poor. The middle class is rapidly
disappearing. I want to increase my chances of having a good life. I do not
want to struggle and constantly worry about my livelihood. Life is extremely
hard. You have to worry about having a place to live, food to eat and clothes
to wear. I want to give myself the best chance I have of succeeding in this
life. Fear is the ultimate motivator. I am not going to lie, there are other
things I would rather be doing than going to my classes and doing homework
every week, but it's the price you have to pay if you want to get where you
want to go. Nothing is handed to you. You have to work hard for everything that
you get. By attending classes here at Chabot I hope to further my personal
development and learn the necessary skills that are in high demand by
employers. Education is the pathway to a better life. Mike Rose says “Formal
schooling will help me survive in the future.” The more things I know the
better off I will be.
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Education is like the foundation of a house. It is the ground floor where everything is built around. Without a strong foundation the house would collapse. The same thing could be said about a person without an education. We need education to learn about ourselves and the world that we live in. Mike Rose states,“Acquiring and using knowledge brings it's own pleasures. It just feels good to know things and to use what you know.” There is a saying that knowledge is power. Knowing things opens you up to all kinds of possibilities. When you have a wealth of knowledge at your disposal it puts you in a position of power. In the book Why School by Mike Rose it asks the question why do we attend school? It discusses our place in this bureaucratic educational system. It asks if the educational system needs a revamping? Rose says,“How we think about and voice the purpose of school matters. It affects the way we think about students-about intelligence, achievement, human development, teaching and learning, opportunity and obligation.” The way we view and value school determines what kind of curriculum we use to teach the future of tomorrow.
In the
following essay I will discuss education and it's role in society. The
importance of it
and the challenges that it presents. I will show why it it is
needed and why it is not as successful as we need it to be. I will discuss it's
value and why everybody should be interested in higher learning.
Rose says, “Americans have long looked to education as a way to
advance themselves. They also see it as the primary means to overcome social
class inequalities.” It's true the reason most people seek an education is to
improve their social status. When you're educated you can make a stronger
argument for something that you believe in. Your word carries more clout. Being
knowledgeable in many different areas creates many more opportunities for
oneself in the workplace. If you know how to do multiple jobs at your company
you will be more valuable than someone that only knows how to do one. Rose
adds, “For a long time, now our public talk about education has been shaped by
a concern about economic readiness and competitiveness. There is some mention
of the traditional purposes of education- intellectual, civic and moral
development-but not much.” I would say this statement is true, that the main
reason most people look to get an education is to improve their lives
financially. That is more relevant than looking to increase one's intelligence.
It's all about being able to make a comfortable living. For me that is the
reason I am coming back to school. I work in a very unpredictable field and I
do not enjoy worrying all the time about my job, so I am looking to broaden my
horizons so I can have something to fall back on.
Motivation
plays a big role in someone deciding to go to school to get an education.
Usually it's to better the lives of the individual and their families. Being
passionate about something helps you to stay focused and have a greater level
of interest in what you're studying. Passion is what makes you want to learn
and grow as a person. Without passion life would be a long boring journey.
Tiffany from the Passion Project movie says “It's something that drives you,
that excites you, makes you feel good.” To me something that you're passionate
about is something that you are fully committed to physically, emotionally and
spiritually. It's something that you put your whole heart into. The Passion
Project movie spoke to me because it was from other student's perspectives.
Everybody is a unique individual, have different interests and things that are
important to them. You have to find out what your purpose is for being on this
earth. Without passion we are like rudderless ships lost at sea with no
direction. A lot of people get into certain career fields because they want to
make a nice living. Sometimes it's at the expense of not being happy. While
making a living is definitely important, so to is doing something that is
fulfilling. There is no greater satisfaction then to
do something that is rewarding. Another student from the movie
named Karina says about her family
“They'd rather me be a nurse because they get money or they're in
high demand or something, but I don't want to do that.” If Karina were to
follow her parents advice she would likely be unhappy. She needs to find that
thing that burns deep inside her and put energy into whatever that is.
Students want
to learn. That is why we come to school. We do it to better ourselves and our
outlook in life. I do not have to say how difficult life is. You never know
what it has in store for you. You could have everything mapped out, but it will
never goes as planned. There will be bumps and obstacles to overcome. Samira
said “When I finally got out into the world I was like, Holy crap is this what
it's like.” It can be a shock to your system. Having passion gives the focus
and drive that's needed to reach your goals. It's like having tunnel vision
where you do not see anything else, but what is in front of you. It is the
teachers job to prepare us and get us excited about education. If the teacher
believes in what they are teaching and have a real zest for it, it will come
across in the energy that is given off to the students. Students feed off of
that energy and will try to soak up everything like they're a sponge. It will
make them become more interested in what they are being taught and become more
involved in the learning process. Ray another student from the Passion Project
movie says “a great teacher is always like a student because they're always
learning so they're always learning new and better ways to do something.” Ray's
right in the fact that we are always learning. We learn new things everyday
whether they be big or small. The more teachers are educated, they more knowledge
they can pass on to us as students.
The role of
education in society is vital to our advancing as a people. Without it, we
would not be able to improve our communities. There would be even more upheaval
and unrest in our communities if we had no access to education. That is why it
is disheartening to see the cutbacks in our educational system. We always hear
how valuable getting an education is, but then there are cutbacks that make it
harder to obtain one. Recently our governor Jerry Brown signed into legislation
laws that allow community colleges to start assessing higher costs
per unit for classes that are in high demand. Classes that everyone needs to
obtain a degree and transfer to a State university such as English and Algebra.
This is making it extremely hard for people that want to go to school.
Tuition costs are going through the
roof. It seems like they are raising the costs of attending college every
semester. It is getting to the point where even community college will start
becoming unaffordable for many. A lot of students after graduating from
college, have massive student loans, but can't find work to pay off the debt.
The legendary politician Nelson Mandela says, “Education is the most powerful
weapon which you can use to change the world.” Another challenge for me when
trying to acquire an education is the time commitment. A lot of us have jobs as
well as being students. It leaves very little time to have a life outside of
work and school. It is one of the many sacrifices that need to be made in order
to try and get where I want to be. A student named Ayesha Johnson in a
published internet news article called the Globe had this to say about the
challenges a full time employee faces when attending school says “Trying to
live a stress-free live and taking care of myself mentally and physically is
complicated.” It can get very stressful and tiring working all day, then having
a 3 hour night class. After work and school your work is still not done. You
have to invest more time to read, write and study. Being a student is a serious
commitment that you have to be fully invested in, otherwise you will end up
wasting your time. I consider my time to be valuable, so I want to make sure
that the time I put into my education is worthwhile. Another challenge I face
is having been out of high school for twenty years before deciding to attend
college. I am older than most of the students I am attending classes with. For
the most part I have never enjoyed going to school, but now I regret not having
gone back sooner so that I would be further along in my education.
America's
educational system needs a major overhaul. It is failing the future of this
country. It needs to be analyzed from the ground up by the most intelligent
people we have in the educational field. Too many students are not being
equipped with the necessary skills needed to be successful in the real world.
Schools have been teaching in the same antiquated way for generations. It's
time to come up with some new fresh ideas to reach students. Our friend Jeff
Bliss says, “that in order for the teacher to see change in the classroom, she
must make her students excited and touch their hearts.” Due to cutbacks in
education funding, the amount of classes being offered is less, leading to
class overcrowding. I saw a statistic that ranks the United States 17th
in the developed world in education. It is shameful, that America with all of
it's resources, being the richest and most powerful country in the world is
lagging behind smaller, less wealthy countries by that big of a margin. We are
making the teacher's jobs harder than it already is, by not giving them the
proper support they need in order to do their jobs to the best of their
ability. I also think that getting
accreditation for teachers needs to be stricter. There are some people
who are teachers who do not know how to instruct. I personally have had
teachers who were all over the place in their instruction and I have learned
very little from them in the process. It is frustrating to attend a class that
you need to advance towards the pursuit of a degree only to be hampered by the
instruction that you are receiving. Bliss also said, “ I want to see a teacher
stand up and interact with the students, get involved, discuss, talk, question
and dig deep into the subject.” it makes a world of difference from a student's
perspective when a teacher is involved and cares about the student's
development. I am not going to assess all the blame to teachers. There is
plenty to go around. Students need to be more accountable and interested in
their education. Education starts with each student as an individual. If they
do not come to class with an open mind, interest or motivation to learn than
they will not. Students have to realize, that ultimately it is them, that has
to take responsibility for their education. It is their future and lives at
stake. You have to be willing to put in the work and sacrifices needed to get
where you need to go. Nothing is going to be handed to you. Only through hard
work, dedication and perseverance will you see the fruits of your labor. You
have to put your mind to
whatever it is that you want to achieve. When you do finally reach
that goal you will feel fulfilled
because all the time and energy you invested helped you accomplish
what you set out to do.
In the book
Why School it asks the question should we eliminate remediation out of
universities. It is the argument of some that high school should have you
prepared for college. While that would be the ideal situation in a perfect
world, we do not live in a perfect world. I feel remediation is essential for a
large segment of the students attending universities. College is an extension
of high school, it's just a place of higher learning. In order to get to that
place you need a solid foundation. That is where remediation comes in. It's
purpose is to refresh and lay the basic groundwork you need so that you can
proceed forward. If there was no remediation in college I truly believe the
graduation rates, while dismal now would be extremely low if remediation was
not part of the curriculum. If there was no remediation offered immigrants and
older people trying to go to school would be at a huge disadvantage. I know for
me personally it is essential, as I had been out of school for twenty years.
That is a long time to be out of a classroom setting. There is a lot of things
that you forget over the years. Harvard's faculty, “lamented the spending of
much time, energy and money” teaching students, “what they ought to have learnt
already.” If that was the opinion of the educational institution we would be in
a far worse predicament than we are now. Schools are essential for getting
people ready for the workplace. It is where you learn to become a responsible
individual and become a successful contributor to society. It is how we stay
competitive in an ever changing world. Already we are lagging behind other
countries in education. We can not afford to fall any further behind. Mike Rose
believes,“It is a terrible thing that so many students, especially those from
poorer backgrounds come to college unprepared.” Remediation is essential for
these types of students to succeed. If there was no remedial courses offered in
schools I believe the amount of people attending schools would drop exponentially
and the crime rate and poverty levels would rise dramatically. I think if
anything, we need to make attending college easier for ordinary people.
Everybody should have an equal opportunity to an education. It is basic right
of every individual. The way the educational system is set up now I find it
full of hypocrisy. You are always hearing that you need college to be a
success, but they are making it extremely difficult for an average person to be
able to afford going. It is only becoming more difficult as time goes on. If we
stay on the same path that we are currently on, pertaining to how the
educational system is run, it's only going to lead to the deterioration of this
country. Only the highly intelligent, athletically gifted or wealthy are going to
be afforded the opportunity of getting a higher education.
There are
many different categories of students. I would classify myself as a traveler. A
traveler is someone that is a good student, but is not sure what career pathway
they should follow and how to get there. I am taking general classes at the
current time until I get a better understanding of where my passion lies and
can earn a living at it at the same time. I originally thought I wanted to do
something in the computer field, but after meeting with a counselor decided it
is probably not the path for me after finding out how much math is required. A
student from the video Focusing the Lasers says, “They are helping people like
me or students through their transition of completing their 3 years.” I am not
as proficient at math as I need to be and do not enjoy it. At the present time
I am thinking maybe somewhere in the business field is where I should be
focusing. I am not sure if that is the path I will ultimately follow, only time
will tell. I also would define myself as a seeker. I am willing to try new
things, but try to find classes that will help me meet graduation requirements.
I select classes that sound like I may have an interest in. It is very hard to
stay focused and motivated if you have no interest in the subject that you are
studying. I am ok with defining myself as a traveler and seeker, because I am
working towards transitioning myself into a laser. I decided four semesters ago
that I needed to go back to school after graduating from high school twenty
years ago. I work in a very volatile industry and am trying to find something
that has more long term stability. My hope is the further I get in my
educational pursuit, the clearer it will become to me, what it is that I would
like to do. Me being 39, I feel like it's now or never for me. I have never
enjoyed school, but realize in order to better my life, it is something that I
needed to do. Another student from Focusing the Lasers says, “I need college to
get a 4 year degree in case business goes down. I need a fall back.” That is
exactly my mind set right now. I need to get a degree, so that I am able to
find employment if something were to happen to my current position. Just this
week we had layoffs where I work and I have been through it before. It is a
very sickening feeling when you are told that your services are no longer
needed and you do not know what you are going to do to pay your bills. I know
having a degree does not guarantee yourself a job, but it helps your chances to have one. Many employers
require that you have a degree before considering you for employment. Without a
degree you have no chance at getting hired, no matter how good of a worker you
may be.
We as
individuals, need to increase our individual consciousness. In order to
accomplish this we need to educate ourselves. Through education, we can equip
ourselves with the knowledge to fight the system in place that is designed for
the majority of us to fail. The United States operates under a capitalist
system. Under a capitalist system, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
We need education to make us aware of the many different issues and
inequalities that exist in our government. Only education can give us the
information needed to make positive changes in society. Most of us are busy
going about our daily lives and do not think about things unless it has a
direct impact on us personally. We need schools to challenge us and make use of
our brains, so we can be successful in our communities. Darrick Smith says,
“It's a great thing to graduate, except for now your degree has made you more
of a suspect in our community than an ally.” The wealthy do not want you to be
aware of what is happening around you. They want you to be oblivious to your
surrounding. They want to keep up the status quo. When you become educated, you
will be able to question authority. Smith adds, “You have to have a
consciousness that understands your ability to make change and influence.” When
we raise our individual awareness, we can start to educate others on important
topics and make change in the world for the better.
Another way
to raise our individual consciousness, is to be aware of the discrepancies
in education afforded to the wealthy,
compared to people of less fortunate means. Schools in wealthy areas have
access to the best of everything, while schools in poor urban areas are often
left with the bare minimum, to help educate the students with. The educational
system gives the wealthy the best chance of succeeding in life, while everyone
else fights for what's left over. Jeff Duncan Andrade, an educator from Oakland
says, “that we don't expect different results from urban schools, that urban
schools are not failing. They are doing what they are designed to do. If they
weren't, if they were really failing, we would do things radically different
because the results are so radically bad.” I tend to agree with his assessment
of our educational system. If students are not and have not had good success
progressing through the institution known as school, why are we not making a
drastic change to how we teach in schools? Could the reason be that the wealthy
want to keep the classes separate? Is it that they want to retain all the
power, so that they can control and have the ability to manipulate people of
lesser means? I believe the answers to these questions is yes.
If the wealthy keep the public uninformed and in their place they
will not need to worry about people rising up and challenging them.
In order for
us to see a drastic change in our educational system, I believe we need to
train or in some cases retrain teachers, so that they can do a better job
instructing students. Teachers should have some knowledge about the community
and the people in it before they start teaching.
Like anything in life, there are good and bad teachers. There are
some who are passionate about their work and then there are those who are in it
for the paycheck. Some teachers are not good at communicating what it is they
are trying to teach you and that leaves the student confused and frustrated.
When a student does not understand the instruction they are receiving they tend
to give up and fall by the wayside. Tiffany from the Passion Project movie
says, “If you want to become in tune with your class, then you have to get
personal with them.” Emily from the same film adds, “I've been in many
classrooms where the teacher just teaches and doesn't interact with the
students much.” In order to connect with the students you need interaction
between the student and the teacher. If a student just sits in their seat
passively and watches the teacher do the problems on the chalkboard, they will
not get as much from it as if they were actively engaged.
We as
students come to class to think, learn and better ourselves and our communities
through education. Teachers should be interested in helping us improve
ourselves as individuals.
They should bring a fire and a passion to their work. When
students see a teacher that is excited about their work, that gets the students
attention. Emily says, “The teacher's job is in instilling passion, I've had
several teacher's who've done that through constant communication with the
students, constant reassurance.” When a teacher gives you constructive
criticism or praise it helps to reinforce that the teacher cares about you as a
student and wants to see you succeed. It makes a world of difference when a
teacher is involved in their work and not detached from it. Karina from the
Passion Project film says, “Teachers are sometimes burnt out after being in the
game so long that they forget the initial thing that brought them there. I
guess they need to be reminded and I guess that's how students come into play.
Students have to remind teachers why they are there in the first place and to bring
back passion into the classroom so passion can be like contagious to
everybody.” Teachers and students both need each other. Students need teachers
to give them the knowledge that they are seeking by attending school and
teachers need students, so they can feel
the pride and satisfaction of seeing their students achieve and
move closer towards their personal goals.
My reason for
coming to college to get an education is that I want to be successful. When an
individual reaches a level of success they usually have had people help them
get to that place. Success to me is being happy with who you are and what you
have. A successful person will be someone who is usually a self starter. You
need to be self motivated in order to get things accomplished. Family can help
you along your way, by being supportive of you through good and bad times. If
you're religious your faith can prove invaluable, especially during trying
times. I'm not where I would like to be ultimately, but I am working hard to
get there everyday. By attending college I hope to acquire the skills and
knowledge that will help me in the pursuit of success.
I define success as, being good at what you do. Successful people
are willing to take chances in life.
That is the only way to advance forward. You will fail many more
times then you succeed, but the important thing is to keep going and never give
up. Perseverance is the key to success. If inventors stopped the first time
they had a great idea that didn't work imagine how different the world would
be. It is only through learning from mistakes that you are able to make the
changes needed to help you become a success. “Too many of us are not living our
dreams because we are living our fears-
Les Brown. I want to be able to look back at my life and know that
I tried and do not want to have any regrets. I do not want to say, what if. I
am attending college classes because I want my life to mean something. I also
want to be a positive role model for my nephews and show them that education is
very important, so that they don't waste their time and take school seriously.
Vidal Sassoon, the famous hairdresser and businessman says, “The only place
where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” Not all successful
people have used college as the vehicle for their success, but the common
thread all successful people share, is that they are educated in some
capacity and are hardworking people. Education is the key to
success.
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