If school were optional, would you still
go? I have been asked this question time and time again and have been dogmatic
in my answer: of course. The majority of my friends on the other hand have
replied with enigmatic looks and an answer that seems to be obvious: no. I
assume that I am in a tapering category, one of the few high school juniors who
actually think school is important.
����������� Education is an immensely vital
ideal and is looked at as a necessity by some, a privilege by others. Education
is also the catalyst for a person�s life, providing a base from which to grow.
Throughout the process of education people learn a lot about themselves, things
they would not have learned if they did not go to school.
����������� Education is looked at as a
privilege, and for good reason. In many third world countries education is not
an option. There are no teachers, no high schools and no chance to partake in a
ritual Americans think of as second nature. Because of this, everyone should
embrace education. Instead of looking down upon going to school, people should
think of it as a privilege� a place that many people wish they could be but do
not have the resources for. Students should be happy to go to school, appreciating
the importance of what school teaches. While in school, they should take
advantage of what they have and what they are able to participate in. Students
should work to their potential, and strive to do better. In a perfect society,
this would be the case, but it is not. For some reason education is an
insignificant ideal to many people in this country.
����������� Education springboards a person�s
life. School is not only the starting point, the place where basics such as
reading and writing are taught, but also a place in which lessons are learned.
To be successful in life a good and solid education is of importance. Education
also prepares people for the future. Without an education, people are ignorant
to a lot of information and ignorance is at times perceived as stupidity. Some
time in your life you will be in a situation in which your knowledge of
history, math or English really matters. Without proper training you will not
know how to write a business letter, read a novel, figure out the tax on an
item, comprehend a newspaper article or understand friends who are discussing
specific historical events. Education teaches life lessons and how to deal with
various conditions. Through schooling people learn how to conquer stress in
major ways, plus students learn things like the consequences of procrastination
and not fulfilling your required duties. You learn the meaning of failure and
success and how to deal with both. Because school deals with time management,
this is also learned.
����������� Education teaches people a lot about
themselves. Self-discovery is a hard thing for a person to grasp, especially a
teenager. High school teaches you how to find out who you are, to realize
things about yourself you would not have found if you were not learning. You
come to realize your likes and dislikes, as well as the things you are good at.
Careers are formulated through a person�s preferences and those aspects would
not be known if it weren�t for education. A person taking a difficult
mathematics course may find they have an affinity for math, and pursue a career
in the field of engineering. On the flipside, a person taking a simple
mathematics course may find themselves struggling, leading them to the
conclusion that mathematics is not something they are good at or interested in.
A person in a creative writing class may find their talents lie in the written
word and they might pursue an English major in college and metamorphous into a
writer.� Education also teaches things
to ponder such as ethics, politics and modern ways of thinking. It helps people
form educated opinions on specific topics. For example, someone may associate
themselves with the Democratic Party, but learn facts from their history class
that lead them to realize they favor the beliefs and morals of the Republican
Party.
����������� As Sister Mary Clarence says in Sister
Act II, �If you don�t have an education, you don�t have anything, honey.�
Education is an incredibly fortunate necessary aspect of life and without
schooling it is extremely difficult to find employment or respect. It is also
hard to function normally in society when you are ignorant to so many things.
It is unfortunate that so many teenagers don�t realize this when they are in
school, if they knew the importance of education as it was happening, their
lives would be much better off in the long run. �Next time you hear a teenager talking about dropping out of
school, please tell them the importance of education; you will be saving their
life.