Education is Everything by Kennedy

Education is Everything by Kennedy - March 2018 Scholarship Essay

I remember being in second grade and asking myself, "Am I ever going to use these skills in real life?" Even as a high school senior, despite knowing the answer, the question still remains ever-present in my mind. Am I ever going to use these skills in real life? The answer is: Most, but not all. As I grew up, I found that it was easier for those who had older siblings to see a point in their education. Those individuals were the hard-working, difficult-class-taking, valedictorian-like students. It made sense. After all, if your older brother or sister is exceeding in their education, then it is logical to think you must be going through 12+ years of schooling for a reason. I, being the eldest child of two and having no one to look up to, found it incredibly difficult to find this reasoning logical.

My passion is history. All history, from how America was discovered to the ancient Aztec civilizations, has a special place in my mind and heart. I love the fact that, in every moment of our lives, we are a part of a tiny piece of history. Granted, most likely not a point in time that will make it into the history books, but we are still a part of it, nonetheless. As a young girl, I did not have this love in anything I was doing at the time. I focused on my science experiments and made sure I passed gym class with at least a B. When I found my love for history, I was well into junior-high, going into high school. This was the point in time where we were encouraged to start looking into our future and try to decide what we solely wanted to do for the rest of our lives. At this time, I thought of history as a cool-thing; I never imagined I could actually turn it into a full-blown career.

I was never sure of my future. While in love with history, I planned on becoming an English major for 3/4 of my high school career. I wanted to write books and to become an author, so it seemed like a good way to go. My mother even suggested, as a way to combine my likes, to write a book with traces of history. She practically wanted me to write something along the lines of the Original Broadway production of Hamilton, but in book form. This was the longest period of time I have ever had where I thought I had my life straightened out, for the most part. However, you have to look at my track record. Before wanting to become an author, I wanted to be a video game designer. Farther back, I wanted to be a hair stylist. Thinking back, I recall that the first career I ever thought of going into was fashion designing. You see, my career choices constantly changed and it frightened me because, deep down, I knew that each one was not what I wanted, truly. When I realized I wanted to major in History, I felt something I had never felt before, in regards to my future: Fulfillment.

If I were to sit down with a second grader, the child would be myself at that age. I would tell her that, yes, now you do not see a reason to sit behind a desk for eight hours a day, five times a week, for the next twelve years, but you will understand in time. One day, you are going to walk into a classroom with posters of past presidents and a copy of the Declaration of Independence, framed, hanging on the wall, and you will understand what you had not been for the past 10 years. You will see the quotes from the greatest presidents the nation has ever had and piece together, bit by bit, just how much work and dedication it took from past leaders to make the country the way it is today. You will learn of the wars the country endured, the hardships our people have survived through, the ways of culture that have taken our nation by storm, and begin to realize one daunting fact. You will lean back in your desk and realize with utter fascination in your mind that this is why you have been coming to school every day. This is why you spent the last 10-12 years staring up at various teachers, each teaching a different, yet confusing subject, only to finally find the one that makes sense in your head perfectly. You will experience it, since I have experienced it. By me saying these simple words to a child with a similar mindset on education as I did at the age, I hope to inspire them to become valedictorian-like students. They may not even have an older sibling to look up to, but that does not matter; I made it, didn't I?