Advancement-The Drive to Become Educated by Sam

Advancement-The Drive to Become Educated by Sam - January 2018 Scholarship Essay

The motives for attending school and furthering one's education vary for the individual and depending on the goals of that person. For some, it is about gaining knowledge about specific topics and ideas that they will theoretically use in their future career. For others, it is about the social connections with friends, or the overall "college experience." For still others, it is a focus on the professional connections and experience that a college student can gain through programs on and off campus, building their network and setting themselves up for success. However, none of these quite capture the motive I have for going to school.
Advancement is the word that comes to mind when I think about school and the education I am pursuing. Advance, according to Google, means to "move forward, typically in a purposeful way." Advancement, therefore, is applying this to my own life and making it an ongoing process of advancing and furthering myself purposefully. The reason that this is the descriptor I chose is because of my goals for school. As I ponder the entire experience, this is the most accurate depiction that I can come up with. From the beginning, I have told myself that the reason I was going to school was to improve and equip myself to be a well-rounded, capable person able to take on my future career and life. However, this goes beyond the classroom.
Yes, while learning about the terms and ideas behind business (which is my major), science, math, history, or any number of other topics are extremely valuable, this is not my final goal. I have begun to notice and realize that on-the-job learning and training in most fields, including the business world, has become increasingly more important, and the application side of the process gained from working in the actual field is becoming as important, if not more important, than the knowledge gained from a classroom experience. I have been able to work at a local bank for the past two and a half years, and this has been able to greatly supplement the classroom side of my education with a direct application of the ideas I am learning about in class, along with new knowledge that I could not even glean from the classes themselves. This has proven to be incredibly valuable to me, and I intend to continue working this job and finding other work-related projects to further pursue this benefit.
On a similar note, I have enjoyed being able to be involved in student leadership on campus and with some different student organizations. Although not at all required, it works well with my goal of furthering myself and being able to be equipped as a person to walk out of school ready to start the next chapter of my life. I have been able to head the marketing of an organization that reaches out to the commuters at the school, as well as organize and orchestrate meetings for leadership and events for students.
Thinking about all of this in retrospect, my motive for going to school and wanting to pursue an education might be slightly different when compared to the "typical" student. My goals are beyond the classroom, beyond the people, and even beyond the connections, even though all of these are wonderful in their own aspects. I believe in the goals I have set and am excited about the future that I am chasing and the possibilities and opportunities that await me because of the focus I have set for the rest of my college journey: advancement of myself.