Time to Explore by Meagan

Time to Explore by Meagan - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

Books are windows into our creative minds. Anytime a person reads a story, their mind wanders into places only they can imagine to create images only they can see. Setting, characters, scenes begin to form. It’s like someone’s own personal movie; no one else can see the story playing exactly the same way. The most amazing part of it all is that books not only open minds to explore creativity, but critical thinking and learning as well.

Because of the learning aspect, students are required to read many books throughout their school career. In kindergarten and first grade, kids begin with simplistic and overly creative books such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. or One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Suess to learn about counting and colors. By the time a student reaches high school, they’re required to read novels such as 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley in order to learn about the oppressive society that may or may not await us in the future. No matter the reason, every book required was assigned in order to promote critical thinking during the learning process.

Aside from every other book a person reads during their schooling, everyone should read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer before they graduate. It’s based on a true story about a man who leaves college, gets rid of almost all of his belongings, gives away his money, and sets off traveling across the country in the most simplistic and detached-from-society way. This story most definitely promotes critical thinking into whether a person thrives better in society or individually without any sort of connections to society.

High school students are preparing to venture out into the “real world”. As they do so, they should be considering who they are and what their morals, values, and goals are. By reading Into the Wild, a student can seriously consider the actions of the main character and how he followed through with what he believed in even if it went against the norm of society. That student can also realize that it’s not the end of the world if they don’t become the richest person with the best job available, but they can still go after what they believe in and whatever goals they’ve set for themselves no matter what anyone tells them; it’s their time to explore.