In my opinion the purpose of education is... by Lisa

In my opinion the purpose of education is... by Lisa - April 2015 Scholarship Essay

In my opinion the purpose of education is to gain the knowledge necessary to be able to provide a service to both myself and the people I live in the community with. Education is a privilege that we must take advantage of if it is given to us. Education is freedom, respect, satisfaction. By becoming educated we allow ourselves not only to have financial freedom, but also the freedom to dream, obtain and satisfy the hunger to do better that resides in us all. Education garners the respect of others, for how we interact in society and for the accomplishments we obtain both personal and professional. Education helps us to satisfy the thirst for knowledge and to be able to help others.

I grew up in a small steel town where not many of the people I knew went to college. They didn't have to, they just got a job at the mill and made pretty decent money. In the late 70's and early 80's that all changed. Men of all ages were laid off and the mills closed. Women who were homemakers were all looking for jobs to make ends meet. The problem was none of them had more than a high school education. The good pay men made at the mill was a thing of the past. Both spouses had to now work to make it. I saw my family, and friends of family scrambling to go to some type of school to be able to have the ability to get a decent paying job. It was at that time I realized I would definitely be getting a higher education. I knew to feel financially secure I would definitely have to do that.

My father in law was an immigrant from Italy. He left Italy after WW II in search of work. He ended up in Venezuela as a painter and later traveling and settling in America in the late 1950’s. He was a successful man, but the one thing that bothered him the most was that he never was able to have an education. He was only allowed to go to school until he was in the 4th grade. He would tell us stories about growing up so poor that he was given to a farmer to work at the age of 10. He worked on a sheep farm and had to take care of the animals. He explained that he would butcher the animals and help prepare them for food. He felt a great interest in their anatomy. He learned the difference between healthy organs and diseased ones by looking at the insides of the sheep. He voiced his regret that if he could have gone to school he may have been able to be a doctor. As a parent, he made sure he provided college educations for all 3 of his children. He always gave the gift of money to his grandchildren and his famous last words were to the children were “save this money for college”.

I graduated high school and went on to pursue a diploma in nursing. I worked as an R.N. for the past 22 years and again found myself in school. After all those years education was still important. To obtain management positions or to advance any further it was going to be necessary to go back to school and obtain my bachelor's degree. I completed that task and now find myself in school again, going for my master’s degree. This time school is to satisfy my thirst for knowledge and to help me obtain the satisfaction of knowing I am doing my best to help others.

As a parent I tell my children, they must do well in school. I hope my husband and I have been good examples of that. It is the only way they will get anywhere in life. We make sure they understand the key to their success is school. Sports, friends and social activities all are insignificant in the end. Your life is what you make of it and education is key to what you can do. Education provides you the opportunity to have a life with no limits. If you are successful you are happy, and if you are happy you can experience and contribute great things in life. We must all do the best we can. As John F. Kennedy once said “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation".