(I've Got) A Golden Ticket by Camille Nicolle

(I've Got) A Golden Ticket by Camille Nicolle - April 2015 Scholarship Essay

As someone who works with preschoolers, I believe that the purpose of an education should be straightforward; education is the institution in which people learn the skills needed to advance later in life. It’s as simple as that. In class, my preschoolers learn all they need in order to be successful in their next step in life. This not only includes their alphabet and numbers, but much needed social skills in order to survive the tough, mean streets of their next destination – i.e. kindergarten – like learning that in order to make friends, you have to be a friend yourself and if you hit someone, others might not have any qualms about hitting you back.

I believe that this basic purpose of education at the preschool level follows students all throughout their educational careers. Each step a student takes prepares them for the next one until they finally feel sufficiently prepared to enter the “real world.” As generations pass, however, the expected level of education an average person needs to successfully enter the “real world” later in life seems to rapidly increase. We’re at the point where a person is expect to have AT LEAST a bachelor’s degree in order to even be considered for almost any sought after position.

Unfortunately, the expectation of a bachelor’s degree – the “golden ticket” to enter the “real world” – closes the gate to multiple life paths for many who cannot afford the education they are demanded to have. So even if the purpose of an education is as straightforward as it seems, reaping the benefits from having an education is not. This means that countless people every year can be shut out from numerous opportunities in life all because they will not receive the proper education to prepare them. This is why scholarships like Varsity Tutors’ are so important. They unlock the doors for education, preparation, and a way of life that some people cannot otherwise afford. If the purpose of an education is to properly prepare people for life, then everyone should have access to it.