I am writing this article as something like a sister article to last week's.

In my last article, Why You Need To Vote, I briefly touched upon my opinion about people taking for granted opportunities such as schooling. As I was writing it, I realized I had so much more to say on the matter that would better be addressed in a second article.

Last week, I talked about what I believe to be a problem in this country, which is a growing sense of entitlement towards certain things that should never go unappreciated. I also touched upon what people should never stop working towards.

Unfortunately, I think the most disheartening of these things people take for granted and stop working towards is their educations.

In particular, it blows my mind when people complain about the college which they attend. Not only did those people opt to be there, but they truly do not seem realize how lucky they are to even be on the campus, learning all that they are, alongside some of the brightest people they most likely have ever met.

In other countries, not only is the quality of education not nearly as good as it is here, but some demographics of people do not even get a chance to be educated. I realize how lucky I am to have been born a girl in this country, rather than one where I would have already been married off 5 years ago to a man I'd never met.

I also appreciate the opportunities my education has brought me here, for example, helping me to get jobs over other people who did not have the cultural capital that I did, or make connections with people at higher institutions whose ideas and mentalities would positively affect my future.

Every day that I am able to attend school, I am giving myself one of the most meaningful gifts I could possibly give myself; an enlightened mind.

This may be the education major in me, but knowledge is a true privilege, one that needs to be celebrated and expanded upon throughout one’s entire life. It pains me to hear that people hate school, because that just means they are not experiencing it right.

Learning should be something sacred and exciting, something someone looks forward to because it is broadening his horizons about the world he lives in. It should be something enjoyable, because it’s like a game to try and gain new and exciting insight every day. Education is a blessing, one that so many people around the globe would literally kill for.

And so many of us waste it.

Lack of motivation in school is one of the most upsetting things to me, because it is truly nothing but a missed opportunity. It is like someone who has a treasure chest in front of them, and all they have to do is figure out how to open it… but they don’t even try.

How can people take something good, filled with so much promise and possibility, and refuse to acknowledge how lucky they are to have it?

Next time you complain about the quality of food at your college, the drama of the dorm next-door, or how much reading you got for your last class, just remember that you don’t have to be there. You do not deserve to be educated simply because you are at college.

You have to put in the work to get an education because, as with anything worthwhile, you cannot just expect it to innately come to you.

Every day you are at school, you have a unique opportunity to better yourself and, through this, better your own world around you. People easily take for granted these chances we have to improve, and that needs to stop if we are going to make any strides as people.

In this country, learning is a beautiful, exciting, timeless opportunity for improvement and growth.

Let’s appreciate it.