Students sit in a class, falling asleep and waiting for the end, not wanting to hear a teacher drone on about a subject they have no interest in. They ignore the education they are offered and decide to use it on something detrimental to learning. But, to be successful, one must learn and learn how to learn. In Claiming an Education by Adrienne Rich, she sends the message that education is important and to take responsibility to getting it. One must claim an education, or take advantage of it, to help further learning for oneself and future generations.
Claiming an education is an important step in evolving our world. Going to class and learning in depth will help create generations of creative and logical minds to advance the world. Technology, sciences, language, and more can be improved through taking advantage of an education. Those who pay no attention to what is being taught will slow down that progress.
One must be self-determined to take hold of education and make it their own.
As Rich states, “responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do you thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts” (73). No one else can claim an education for others so one must take the step forward and begin to walk their own path. Each person has the potential to do so but many refuse to take responsibility. They will deny what may help them because taking responsibility for their own thoughts is too much.
Rich suggests to not sit in silence when you disagree with something or know what it right.
Ben Carson is an example of someone who had claimed an education. As a child he was deemed unintelligent by his teachers and classmates. His mother forced him to read instead of playing around which had helped him realize his potential. Carson “had found the key that would unlock his future and someday enable his greatest dreams to come true” (Lewis 7). Carson, though young, had taken advantage of an education once he thought for himself, instead of having the other students think for him, or not at all in his matter. He grew up to be a surgeon, where one must really take advantage of an education to get to that level.
Carson took responsibility for himself and took education seriously, not as a time to mess around. Many should follow those same steps, realize they have potential and to claim and education to be able to evolve life for future generations. Though he was seen as ignorant, those perceptions did not change him once he had realized for himself he was, indeed, intelligent. Claiming an education is a simple task, all that is needed is to make the choice.
An education does not just make you smarter. It helps create goals, create a network, and gives a chance to go to different countries. Having something to strive for gives education a new meaning, like being able to have greater experiences in other countries. It can widen where you work later on. Education is more than learning, it can do much more.
As well as learning, one must approach education with questions and an open mind. Rich explains that many teachers “are still handing the ideas and texts of [male- centered] tradition on to students without teaching them to criticize its antiwoman attitudes” (74). Students must learn material and learn to question it and compare it to today’s world. Are the ideas and morals the same now? Has learning changed and should it be changed to accommodate to today’s standards? Research and projects have led to different conclusions about subjects compared to years ago. These things should be taught but also noted that they are old and today’s standards have changed so those who are getting educated will understand the evolution of learning.
A friend did not care much for education during high school. He did not do work and did not go to college until years after he graduated once he realized he should have paid attention in school. After returning to school, he took it more seriously and was able to get a degree because he realized his potential for success. He claimed an education, though later than most, and with that, met goals and became successful in his own way. I used a friend because education has always been an important part in my life, so I have taken advantage of education the best I can.
Education is the basis of countries. Without it, they would still be in primal states. Language and sciences would not have been developed without the first discoveries. They were written down and taught for centuries and each country put its own culture in some things. Languages are different all around the world because someone educated created a system and taught many others which created a new language and words are added all the time.
Economic growth depends on education. “When the average number of schooling in a country was higher, the economy grew at a higher annual rate over subsequent decades” (Hanushek). Education that people get increases the amount of wealth a country has because there are more skilled workers in the field. They help create funding as well for more projects and research to help education grow more as well.
Education helps individual wealth as well. Many times, those who go on to get a higher education in a needed field get paid more because of demand. For those that get degrees where demand is low, they suffer but that does not mean their education went to waste. They will hold that knowledge and may be able to teach others who are not as fortunate to go to college for that degree. They will be able to learn that field but do not have to get into higher education to learn it.
It has increased human life expectancy and decreased infant death rates. Not because someone sat in a classroom but because they took advantage of what they learned. Many people did and began to create ways to help others. Medicine is about learning constantly because it is changing all the time. That is because education and learning has changed it.
Higher education is not needed though. Even taking advantage of high school education can help develop skills. They may not be in high demand but they can help create a life and goals for someone. It helps balance out a country needing highly skilled workers and those who can learn basic skills easily to do jobs that do not need a high education.
Students today need to learn that information to help develop it further and create a world filled with better information. This is why students must claim an education before it is too late and they pass up an experience to become smarter and help keep their world alive. The new generation will run the world soon but many do not realize that and think they can get away with contributing nothing to the world. The more students that decide to be educated means the greater possibilities the world can be changed.
Those who claimed an education in the past used what they learned to create today’s society. Evolution, the geocentric theory, genetics, mathematics, and more have been developed for ages because of those who took advantage of the resources they had. Today, everything is based around those learnings and it is still being developed and shall be developed for centuries longer.
Learning is a cycle, it cannot be stopped. Once someone has learned something, it can be changed and interpreted further. That is why it is important to keep education in society. If we were to take it away now, burn all the books, and start fresh, humans would fall apart because of the advancements already made that cannot be continued. The cycle will continue forever because there is something to learn everyday. Claiming an education is much more than learning, it is what life is.
Claiming an education is something every person should do, whether it is for wealth or to feel complete for having goals. Taking advantage of an education is beneficial to an individual and those in the future. Adrienne Rich in Claiming an Education helps explain that people must take responsibility for themselves and what they learn.
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