Robledo1

Jennifer Robledo

Dr. Ogden

English 1A Hybrid

20 May 2018

Is Education Worth it?

Education; a word loosely thrown out there by society. What exactly does it mean to be

educated? What are the benefits of education? Our society has imposed us into thinking that

education is necessary to prosper, but is it really? Education is said to be a human right, but so

many countries lack the material to give their citizens a proper education. If education is so

important than why isn’t anything done to fix the school systems? Like me, most people have

thought about these questions as well. It might seem like nothing is being done to fix our broken

school systems or that education doesn’t necessarily benefits us, but you are wrong. You see

education has the power to empower people. Education can be a way to change the world, or just

your personal world. It can help us achieve great things and leave behind a past doomed for

failure. Education helps people take you seriously!

For some time now, women have been seen as unequal to men. We are unfit to be

successful, accomplished women. Education has helped us show the world our worth.

Empowerment of women through education will help break the pattern of gender discrimination

and bring lasting change for women in developing countries. Educated women are essential to

ending gender bias. A society will grow and prosper when they ensure women have the same

opportunity rights, resources and voices as men. The empowerment of women’s education for

equality will develop a better society and world for all human beings. Women will be

acknowledged as an equal gender to men once we empower women with the help of laws,
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employment, and education. “Research demonstrated that investing in women, and more

specifically women’s education, has numerous positive effects…..” (45) Quality education

prepares girls and women for productive lives. Education is necessary for more than the skills

and knowledge attained. Investing in women helps families, communities and countries magnify

economic growth.

Stories like the one from Beneatha in Raisin in the Sun shows us the willingness of

women trying to rise from gender bias through education. A husband, the man of the house

recently deceased left his family insurance money. Walter Lee Younger, the oldest, has big

dreams. The check has not been received, yet Walter is already planning big things for his

family. A lifelong dream, to open a liquor store, in hopes of getting his family out of the rut they

live in; to provide and give his son Travis a better future than what he has. But Beneatha,

Walter’s sister, has her own purpose for the money. Beneatha wants to become a doctor, she

needs that money to pay for her studies. In a time where women are looked upon as only being

housewives, Beneatha wants to prosper and get an education. An education that she believes will

make her be more than just an ordinary “housewife”. Beneatha is constantly trying to show her

worth. She is trying to show that she is worthy of getting her school paid so that she can receive

the education needed to prosper in life. Like Beneatha, Mary Pipher too has shown us how

education is able to empower people, specifically women.

Mary Pipher is a psychologist and writer. Through education she has found a way to

share her knowledge on writing. In her book Writing to Change the World she gives us an

instructional manual on writing. Writing is such a powerful tool; if used properly it can change

the world. It has the power to connect people all around the world as explained by Pipher

herself. Writing has ways of helping us escape our “real world” problems and helps us deal with
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any inner darkness. Writing enables us to find our inner voice. That inner voice that as children

we are taught to silence. Pipher suggest that we should use language as a source to connect with

people. Her goal is to educate new writers the tools needed to become a “change agent”. Writers

are capable of influencing readers one at a time. Writers help people build “I-thou” relationships

with one another. I-thou relationships display respect towards an individual, thus building a

relationship. Writers make connections with their readers and by writing with clarity they help

their readers make clear distinctions. One of the best way of connecting with readers is by

healing stories." One of the simplest and most effective ways to move readers to action is to

create for them a story about the conditions that moved us to care." (97) It’s those stories that are

relatable and easy to learn from that serve as healing stories. Let our experiences be the guide to

finding out what interest us the most. Her knowledgeable criteria have lead way to us finding

amazing stories of individuals who through knowledge where able to change their future.

This is true when looking at Malcom X story of how writing and reading changed him

into a better individual. Malcom X discusses how growing up in the streets he knew how to

hustle but was illiterate. He was good at speaking but when it came to writing he had a hard time

expressing what he felt. “I became increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what I

wanted to convey in letters that I wrote…..” (253) He decided to broaden his vocabulary and by

doing so it became easier for him to understand readings from books. His love for reading is

what made him become more educated and passionate about his ancestor’s history. Writing and

reading changed him in a way that made him become a better person; more intellectual. He

found reading as his way to escape from reality of him being imprisoned. According to Pipher,

Malcom X is a changed writer. “Writing to connect is “change writing” which, like good

therapy, creates the conditions that allow people to be transformed.” (8) (Pipher) Malcom was
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transformed because of his constant reading, he found a new way to look at the world; a world

that dehumanized African Americans. I think all this knowledge is what made him become an

activist, sure a violent one but that was his way of expressing himself. “Good writing enlarges

readers’ knowledge of the world, or empowers readers to act for the common good, or even

inspires other good writing.” (7) (Pipher)

Rodriguez in Achievement of Desire is another of the stories where Pipher’s criteria for a

change writer is noticeable due to education. Rodriguez starts off by giving his readers a little

background story. He is a child of immigrant parents. He reminisces about a time when he was a

child; on his first day of class he was barely able to speak English. Oh, how time has changed

twenty years later he is a well-educated individual. But once upon a time there was a little boy

and he had a tough choice to make; the desire to prosper or keeping that sacred bond between his

family. It wasn't easy for him, but he chose the life of a “scholarship boy” as he refers to himself.

He was a good student, always so eager to learn; learning that would disconnect him from his

family little by little. It came to the point where he would always exclude himself from his

family; buried in his books. Any attempt from his family in trying to gain interest in his studies

was underappreciated. Good schooling required that he alter any early childhood habits. Thus,

also affecting his attitude towards his parents. Education had changed him. He first learned to

speak English in school. English was imposed on him. It was where he lost his individuality and

became what society expected him to become; a well-spoken American. Because of school

always forcing him to speak English, including in his home, that is why he lost that bond he had

with his family. He was known as the "Pocho" which is true, he let go of his Mexican tradition to

fit into a society that was "Americanized". Rodriguez gives his readers a different perspective,

one that most people wouldn’t be able to relate unless they came from immigrant parents. It
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shows people the struggles of wanting to achieve that "American Dream" and the lengths of what

some people are willing to do. His story was a "teaching tool" something we as students can

learn from his experiences. Yes, education is very important, but we must never let it come

between family. Mary Pipher states " One of the simplest and most effective ways to move

readers to action is to create for them a story about the conditions that moved us to care." (97)

This is exactly what Rodriguez story did for me, I made a connection with his story; something

that is well known to me. The struggle between the desire to succeed and family. We get so

caught up with our desire to become someone better that we push away those that love us.

At times the desire to become educated is larger than anyone can possibly imagine. Some

people are willing to leave their families and countries behind in sake of better educational

possibilities. Undocumented college students deal with so many struggles. As if being away from

family wasn’t enough, they have had to deal with racism, lack of formal education, and

discrimination. All these factors affect undocumented students in reaching their full potential and

from reaching the highest level of education, thus having less chances of earning scholarships or

internships. Undocumented students have turned to activism, where they engage in protest,

demonstrations, and spreading the word out on social media as well as on campus. Studies done

on undocumented students have found that students have found their empowered voice through

the acts of activism. Showing that activism has helped students find their inner voice; finding

their identity.

There are many unknow heroes fighting for the education of our children. So, don’t

freight, a change in our school systems is upon us. Periodicals have been written by the

education deans to fix our broken school system. They protect three values that underlie their

vision for education in a democratic society like ours. Furthermore, protecting and nurturing the
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children is their important value. The portion of public schools and university budgets from state

and federal funding has decreased significantly. If that was not bad enough, the administration

has proposed to cut federal education funding by over 9 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 13

% of the education budget. In K-12 schools the administration has refused to act against

discrimination towards transgender students. Higher education has too suffered from the

incompetent administration to protect their students from fraudulent debt and cuts to financial

aid. The second value is to empower educators instead of undermining them. Federal leaders are

constantly voicing hostility towards public school teachers. The federal leaders claim that

teachers are always in need of being told what to do; implying that teachers can’t act on their

own. When in reality school’s curriculum is taught by very highly educated teacher, whom are

qualified to teach students. They also demonstrate empathy towards their students. The goal is

for teachers to be appropriately compensated and acquire job protection. The third value is to

invest in public school and stop the government from making them private. Politicians argue

that the funds for education should not be wasted in public schools but instead in be put into use

at private schools. When indeed research has been done suggesting that students in private

schools perform worse academically than in public schools. Overall a democracy society must

offer the very best of education for every child. Providing such education will provide a better

future for all! Children are our future! Which is why the following organization has gone above

and beyond to provide the right education for the children.

An organization called “Global Partnership for Education” has a goal to help the citizens

of Uzbekistan with a better education system. Over the past 20 years the number of preschools

has decreased by almost half. Sadly, their statistics show that in the year 2012 Uzbekistan’s

preschool enrollment rate was at 23.3%, indicating that it was among the lowest in the
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world. This organization has started a project, that if it succeeds will enroll over 100,00 boys

and girls in over 2,400 rural preschools nationwide by 2019. The project focuses on improving

educational opportunities all throughout Uzbekistan. They believe that early childhood is a

critical period in a child's development since what a child experiences early on can define their

futures. The education of children in the early stages is widely recognized as a crucial part of

their up bring, thus the government announced that they plan to expand ECCE (Early Childhood

Care and Education) with the goal of enrolling 100% of Uzbekistan children by 2021.

Another hero in disguised is Goyal, whose goal is for better high-quality education in

India. Goyal has been very successful in India. Within three years she created six new schools.

The creation of these school led for six principals to form an approach that would be beneficial.

The six pillars consist of investment into educators, progressive curriculum and pedagogy,

scalable cost model, accountability to results, parents as partners and more time on tasks for

students. Although Goyal is no longer involved in hands on teaching the students, she is still

fighting to provide for them better education. Her fight in a better education system has given the

children of India a fighting opportunity and a pathway to a better life that did not exist before.

Many children have had to encounter obstacles to get a good education and strive for

success. Anindya states that receiving help from people or programs is the key component for a

child to achieve success. Students should be given guidance to help lead students to reach

prosperity. Students should not be discriminated in receiving equal educational opportunities due

to their background. The support to strive for greatness should have no requirements; no child

should be left behind. Any child can be successful, all it takes if for someone willing to help

them. We all need a good support system at times. Why not give children the unconditional

support system they need to achieve?

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Education, a word that can be defined in so many ways. A word that holds so many

meanings in a society like ours. So many people are willing to sacrifice everything and spend so

much money for the concept of a better future. And so, we shall. The right to have an education

is part of our human right. Education has the power to empower people, stop gender bias, and

has the potential to make people see an individual as “important”. Education can change the

world through writing how Pipher in her book demonstrates. It could make an individual become

a better version of themselves, like with Malcom X. There are so many heroes in disguised

fighting so that our children get the high -quality education they deserve, because they are the

future! If so many people are willing to fight for it, then it must be worth it right?
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Works Cited
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Century. Online Submission, Online Submission, 01 Jan. 2014. EBSCOhost.
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Education." Education Digest, vol. 86, no. 4, Dec. 2017, p. 4. EBSCOhost.
Pipher, Mary. Writing to Change the World. New York. Riverhead Books, 2006. Print.
Rodriguez, Richard. “Achievement of Desire.” Readings for Revolutionary Writing, edited by
Kristen Ogden, Bedford/St. Martins, 2016. 315-321.
Malcolm, X. “Coming to an Awareness of Language.” Readings for Revolutionary Writing,
edited by Kristen Ogden, Bedford/St. Martins, 2016. 252-255.