What does education means to you? by Michael

What does education means to you? by Michael - October 2022 Scholarship Essay

Education to me means gaining knowledge, skills, and experience to be a productive individual. Education looks different for everyone depending on their mental and physical capacity to learn. I value education and take advantage of every opportunity from enrolling into a Culinary Arts program, Forensic Science, Photography class and even challenging myself to take Pre-Calculus. My school offered a Body Sculpturing class for the first-time school year, and I excelled at every component of the class. The teacher was so impressed at how well I learned the standards and was able to perform them with 100% accuracy that I now lead the class daily with strength and conditioning.

My late great-grandmother grew up in the rural south. She was not afforded the same educational opportunities I have. Education to her was walking ten miles to school on dirt roads when it rained because her and her siblings did not have to work on the farm when it rained. Therefore, education for her meant learning all the skills she could when the opportunity presents itself. Although she did not receive a formal education, she obtained home economic life skills she was able to teach her children and grandchildren.

Education to me means learning all the standards and tasks needed to further my career goal in the field of Culinary Arts. I can learn food safety, presentation, cooking temperature etc. Prior to March 13, 2020, education to me meant going into a brick-and-mortar school building to attend classes with a teacher in each room. However, Covid-19 showed me education can be asynchronous via Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. I was not able to go into a school to receive my education, but I still received an education.