To Grow, To Encourage, and to Inspire by Karmela

To Grow, To Encourage, and to Inspire by Karmela - April 2015 Scholarship Essay

Almost every one of my peers has complained against their education. And when they question the existence of school and inquire why they have to have it, everyone including myself gets the same answer that the purpose of education is to build a better and brighter future. We always get the same answer and yet we need to hear it over and over again.

When you’re young, it can be a hard thing to comprehend how an education can have the purpose of changing your life especially if it is easy for one to get bored. Most people wish to say that the purpose of an education is used to protect somebody from future poverty or financial struggles. And they do have a point. When one learns new skills, it is quite easier for people to avoid financial struggles. For example, because a doctor decided to go to school, he is obviously going to do better financially than a fry cook. However, the purpose of education doesn’t revolve fully around the hope that one can earn more money in the future. After all, education itself costs money at times.

In my opinion, the purpose of an education has always been to make a person grow. Education has always been a tool to help us gain knowledge so as to live in this crazy world and also be able to excel in it. Education helps us discover what our place in the world will be. Will it be a compassionate doctor? A professional athlete? Or a successful business owner? If one really meditates upon the role education has in shaping our society, we can see that because of education we have a less chaotic world. Education promises a stronger, stable world community where there can be more harmony rather than chaos.
Education also has the purpose of giving someone a greater amount of self-esteem. For some odd reason, human beings often feel more confident when they know about the things around them. When we are educated, we don’t feel so clueless and we can make sense of things which in turn gives us a sense of security.

Our own education has the ability to help us build up goals. We’re given knowledge throughout so many years. And that knowledge can sometimes touch us and inspire us to use it in a unique way. For example, when a scientist makes a new discovery or when a historian finds the answer to a mystery, they have a goal to share it and even educate others. Or perhaps a more relevant example would include a high school teenager seeing the fascinating complexity of medicine and health and that gives him or her the goal to become a doctor one day. Another example would be a young girl learning a new dance routine and wanting to show it off on a big fancy stage in front of a large crowd.

Education is not a waste of time and it shouldn’t be taken for granted. Education has inspired and pushed countless people to become extraordinary individuals. The true purpose of an education has always been to expand a person’s mind, encourage self-worth, and to inspire goals that can change the world.