Going through my Kindergarten journal, I answered the age-old question, ("what do you want to be when you grow up?") the same way I would today; I want to be a teacher. The reasoning for wanting to be an educator, rest assured, has changed. As a five-year-old, I knew that teachers acted as a helpful and caring mostly matriarchal figure with whom I spent most of the day. As I have gained knowledge and experience, I have learned that being an educator is that and so much more.
I have come to learn and appreciate all the education which my privileged life has been granted. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful for all that I have been given. With my full free primary education, and then being able to further my education past high school. There are so many peoples all over the world who have not been given as many opportunities to education; higher or otherwise. How lucky can we be that here in America we have free, mandatory education until we become adults?
Free elementary, middle and high school education takes the burden off our backs of attempting to support ourselves well before we are ready. Having these opportunities gives us the chance to discover ourselves through college and trade schools, as opposed to having to work to make ends meet, or kill to survive.
When I was in high school, we read a book about a man and his organization who traveled to the Middle East to build schools for their youth. This book opened my eyes to the brilliance that is education. Something that we take for granted has the power to be an absolute life-changer.
Being an educated individual means you are a thinker. You are a dreamer. You have access to your passions. You are given time in your day set aside to think, dream, and be passionate.
If people in war-torn countries had time set aside to "free read," imagine the kind of ingenuity that could be produced from them? Our free reading time in elementary school, gym class, music lessons starting at age five sets us aside from countries who may struggle.
We don't have the same struggles as other countries because most of our population is literate. Most of our population has the opportunity to explore their passions and create beyond their own limits. We are given those chances every single day we wake up and ride the bus to school. We don't have to start working at nine years old in a factory to make iPhones. We don't have to join a gang at twelve to protect our home from drug lords.
We don't have to do these things because we are educated. The bulk of our day is spent inside a safe, clean and fully stocked classroom. Equipped with luscious educational materials, rich texts at or beyond our comprehension level, and well-educated teachers in the front of the classroom taking the wheel at steering our curiosity to a life full of wonder.
Education is the future because it dares us to dream about our own future. We are tested to test our limits, not just to raise a test score. Every time you are dreading your next essay, feel lucky you have the ability to write.
Our education throughout the years has given us that chance to write and understand words written on a page. This understanding opens up our world to a vast catalog of knowledge, new questions to be answered, and old ideas yet to be discovered by your own eyes.
Education is the future because every time a teacher answers the unknown for a child, that opens up the possibility for more questions. More questions means a thirst for more knowledge. This thirst can be their motivation to succeed.
This is why I am passionate about teaching. I yearn to give opportunities of wonder to a child everyday. I cannot think of a job more fulfilling.
We are critical thinkers. We are dreamers. We have passions that excite us from the minute we wake up until the minute we fall asleep. Thanks to our wonderful education, we are able to have these dreams and passions. We are so lucky.
