Life Changing Lessons by Taylor

Life Changing Lessons by Taylor - December 2014 Scholarship Essay

Education shapes each one of us in more ways than we can ever imagine. Really, every experience of our lives shapes us, even when we don't see it happening. This is especially true with education. The curriculum we are taught shapes our lives in a variety of unseen ways.

Much of the curriculum we are taught in school is very general, especially during our early years. Even now as a high school junior, I am required to take certain classes, even if they don't interest me. One of the most important things I've learned year to year is that there is a life lesson that can be taken out of every class. For example: gym class. I am not a very athletic person. I am totally comfortable with that, but I still get embarrassed to go to gym class because of it. However, as much as running the mile makes me consider skipping out, it also teaches me some valuable characteristics. Running a mile takes persistence, determination, willpower. It does for me, anyway. And that's just one example. There are countless others, too. In math class, I not only learned how to find the slope between two coordinates. I also learned how to actively work to solve problems; I learned how to solve these problems in creative ways. Spanish has demonstrated to me that there is more than one way to say the same thing. Social studies has shown me the need to respect other people's opinions, and how we as a generation can avoid the mistakes of those past. In elementary school, I did not know these things. In elementary school, I had a naive and innocent mind. Years of education have shaped my life by slowly and stealthily integrating more mature concepts into the curriculum. Whether accidental or intentional, education has undoubtedly shaped my life in these ways.

Many of us woke up ecstatic for our first day of kindergarten. We were eager to go to school, to make new friends, and to learn. As we get older, we find ourselves dreading waking up for school everyday. But there is more to our education than what lies on the surface. To get the most out of our education, it is imperative that we keep an open mind and allow it to shape our lives everyday.