The Opportunities Given by Scarlett

The Opportunities Given by Scarlett - October 2022 Scholarship Essay

Throughout one’s life there will be many opportunities to learn and grow. However, these opportunities are seldom as transformative as one’s experiences with education. Due to this, education should be a right given to everyone across the world, however, it is a luxury afforded to only a few. Higher education is even less accessible. I have witnessed how education has positively impacted my family and myself.
I come from a low income family, with the highest education achieved being less than a high school diploma. Well at least that was the case before my older sister graduated college this last May with a degree in psychology as a first generation student. However, well before that, my family always emphasized the importance of education even if it was self-taught. My parents instilled in me the responsibility of learning thoroughly and consistently for various reasons. To expand my worldview, be open to different perspectives, and to understand when one is wrong.
My dad adhered to education through manual work. There is not a hobby or task that he has set out to complete that he did not fulfill. He only attended school until he was 14, and yet he has become educated in both culinary arts, and accounting. Though only listing those things does him a disservice, as the things he has learned are innumerable. He educated himself through watching those who had experience, and asking them to teach him without fear or shame. My mom had a different educational journey. Though she only attended school until she was 16, she pursued education through her own means. She maintained a routine of reading everything she could get her hands on. Whether it be the newspaper, classic literature, recipes, or entertainment magazines. She sought out different sources, and used her newly found knowledge as topics of conversations between her children, friends, colleagues, and bosses. She still encourages debate and the seeking of information to this day. Both of my parents credit education into making them open-minded and versatile human beings.
Education has been essential to me. Of course it has given me invaluable knowledge, but more than that it has made me challenge myself in ways that I appreciate. It has challenged my beliefs for the better. There are some values that Mexican culture still holds up which are patriarchal and taboo in nature, but are not challenged. The view that women must stay at home, and men must be the breadwinner is not something that parents ever ascribed to, so I never understood why it was so prevalent in other households. I began to hold the conversation in my classrooms about gender and cultural roles, and it gave me a deeper understanding as to other people’s and culture’s perspective of things. However, this also opened the discussion within my peers as to accepting that not everything that is tradition should be upheld. Furthermore, education has been important to me as it has given me the opportunity to better my mental and physical health. It has given me the tools to express myself and what might be bothering me to my friends, family, and physicians. I do not have to suffer in silence, or stay with doubts about my health. This has translated into having better communication with those around me in all aspects of life. Moreover, it has given me the opportunity to help my friends and family members do the same for themselves. Education gives everyone the chance to leave the world a better place than how they found it, and I do everything in my power to take advantage of that.