Education as a necessity for life by Chad

Education as a necessity for life by Chad - April 2015 Scholarship Essay

Equal to the necessity of water in sustaining life, education is the “mental combustion” that provides purpose to our forward moving human existence. Even the greatest of human institutions can be summarized by a collective desire for educational advancement. This includes churches, libraries, hospitals and universities. Human beings have always differed on what a purposeful existence means. Yet education in it’s various forms provide the greatest clarity about human life.

The earliest instances of mental development are experienced as infants, reacting to a rapidly changing world. A world where colors, shapes, sounds and movement cause exponential brain growth. They soon develop knowledge of patterns in speech that help them acclimate to the wider world. Any learned experience at this stage is no less an education if one is born in a First or Third world country. Often this is where the similarities in education end as a variety of causes inhibit the ability to gain formal educational in certain nations.

Many of these reasons pertain to the suppression of education as a way to limit the upward mobility of a particular class or segment of society. Education on an individual level provides the necessary tools of cognitive growth to help create change in one’s own life. It is one of the reasons why during periods of conflict libraries, universities and religious institutions are controlled or destroyed by conquering factions to suppress elements of decent.

One doesn’t have to look further than modern day conflicts to understand how ruling extremist elements have weakened the ability for women to achieve a basic education in many regions of the world. The fight for access to an equal education for young women in her country of Pakistan became a globally recognized crusade, when fifteen year old student Malala Yousafzai, was attacked by extremist forces for pursuing her schooling. This incident helped reinvigorate the continued quest to level the barrier for equal education.

Yet the true opportunity of education when harnessed by the masses provides more than a chance at social mobility and increased G.D.P. Enlightenment through education allows people to feel connected to the unknown vastness of the universe.

Astronomy is one of humanities’ earliest sciences, practiced globally it helped make sense of endless formations of stars in the night sky. We became ever closer to the unexplainable mystique that surrounded us. Medical science from its earliest progressions helped lessen the uncertainty between matters of life and death. Religion ultimately provided it’s own clarity on the human existence. Education informed by religion is what initially birthed the sciences and arts, which many in the secular world now solely rely upon. Religion as a form of education injected a finality into the understanding of the human existence that has sustained the world for many thousands of years.

Ultimately education is the byproduct of a reaction between the inherently inquisitive human mind and the broader world. Education has since the dawn of our existence helped us to wrestle with what is truly unknown. By providing greater certainty, we attain a level of fulfillment in life that eases both the mind and soul.