We all remember being a small child and dreading that first day of school after the long summer break. The mixed excitements and dread of the new year ahead of us. We learned the basics back then: reading, writing and arithmetic. Building a foundation for the rest of our career as students.
As time went on we all started to discover who we are. Our likes and dislikes. And eventually a path appeared before us. We begin to exploit our own strengths and abilities. Through our education we bloom into more than just a students, but into anything we want. Writers, thinkers, artists, musicians, teachers, scientists. An entire universe of possibilities is opened up to us.
Recently, Matt Bevin the Governor of Kentucky purposed a budget cut to all higher education in his state. Meaning if this bill is passed the tuition of most of the colleges across the state will go up. As well as cutting the funding that was previously going to help the underprivileged that were getting an education.
If passed, many hard working people would have to say good bye to their hopes and dreams and give up on their education. Or have to leave their universities and places that they have grown to love just to keep that dream alive.
In the past, education was power. Those that had an education were those that had money, or the religious figures (this was a major position of power in the past.) And the common person was not allowed to learn because that would make it harder for those at the top to control them. The wealthy and educated used those below them to do their bidding.
This isn’t the case today. Even for those that do not go to any form of higher education the general public, at least in our country, are still taught how to read and write and do simple math. We are given the education needed to interpret the world around us. We are able to properly fight back against corruption and those that are trying to manipulate us. Education is our weapon, what lets us think freely and openly about the world around us.
In this country, we cannot let our education be taken away from us. We should not have to put a price tag on becoming the person that we want to be. And we most of all should not stay silent about those that are trying to take it away from us. We as educated people must not let those above us dictate what we can and cannot achieve.
This is why I say we must fight for education. We must be free thinkers and fighters to become what we want. Not allowing people to look down on us or walk over us. This is our country and our time, and our right to be able to learn. So use your words as ammunition against those that try to undermine your education and your ability to be who you want to be. Make them scared of you because you are educated and will not sit idly by as they try to take that from you.
