Is
Education Important?
I put much reflection into this matter throughout life. I grew up with a mostly illiterate
family and was well on my way to being a dropout. I quickly realized that I better get my G.E.D, if for no reason other than to spite the principal and school system. I took for granted
education possibilities in front of me. I knew receiving an education was in my hands, but I did not take advantage. I knew people that survived harder times, coming out strong without education. I knew it was important, but I had not seen the other side of the equation. I did not realize education would affect quality of life.
Both of my grandparents were uneducated, as were five of their eight children. Of the five who were illiterate, one is deceased. Of the other four are two factory workers (both of which have little reading and writing skills), one is a supervisor, and the other is there to do hard labor on a machine. The other two have minimal education. One is a meat department manager of a local grocery store, and the other is a co-manager at the same chain of grocery stores. I have seen that illiteracy is not the end of the world. However, at the other end of the spectrum, my grandmother did not work, and my grandfather was an underpaid farmer. He says, "You do what you gotta do to survive," and with eight kids, he is living proof of that statement.
There are, however, those that had no education that have made billions of dollars. Two examples of these are Ray Kroc and Walt Disney. Both of these men made it big with very little education. According to Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal, "Kroc and Disney both dropped out of high school and later added the trappings of formal education to their companies."(416) They both "shared the same vision of America, optimistic faith in technology, and conservative political views." (416) Because these men knew how to work hard, sell themselves, be devoted to their dreams, both of these men are still known worldwide today.
Though both of these men were very creative, committed, and resourceful, they have helped to make us lazy Americans. We are passive people, spoon-fed anything that we could possibly want. We have no need for imagination. We have no need to help our children to be more artistic. In another article, "''Have it your way'' Consumerism Invades Education," about how author Simon Benlow is finding that students are less like students and more like shoppers. In this article, I was struck by the brutal honesty when he says, "Students who read textbooks, literature, and articles passively will get nothing from them- it is a kind of paralyzing higher education illiteracy." (173) I know from my own experiences this is true. In my own studies, if I can not relate the information that I read to something important to me, it is not absorbed and is lost. That is the same thing as not being able to read it at all. The words just blur into the paper, as if they were never there.
I have to say that I am thankful I made the decision to come back to school. Even though some fulfill their dreams without education, I think my way will be more smoothly paved with one. If I never get to the point where I feel my imaginings have come true, I still know that I am a better person for having attended college.