I Believe Statement

Education, what are its goals? Why is it so emphasized, but yet so dysfunctional? Can it really bring peace, an end to ignorance, and even understanding of others, or does it just bring up the truths behind stereo-types and discrimination? Is there even an answer we can all agree on? For me, the answers exist in my own story, as I am sure it does for many others. As a young boy, I grew up in a small southern town, the type where everyone knows your name and business. School was never at the top of my priority list. In my eyes, school was a place to socialize and cause a little ruckus without my parents finding out. Both my parents only graduated from high school, but had done very well for themselves. That alone told me school wasn’t important. Throughout high school I was a foul mouthed jokester who was going 100 mph down a road to complete failure. Then came the second semester of my junior year where my life changed. I met a girl who straightened me out and a social studies teacher who was funnier than I was. There was no more, "Passin’ gases instead of passin’ classes" it was, "Passin classes, then gases." Although, the damage had been done, my GPA was a 2.3 and my SAT score matched the weight of a sumo wrestler. Luckily, I was accepted into a college on my charm and good looks, at least that’s what my mother told me. Surprisingly, college has been a breeze for me. My education became a lot easier once I channeled my passion and energy into it. It took the strength of my family and a few people who have shown me the beauties of education. Education has been my savior. It has made me grow as a person and become more understanding of others. All it takes is just one chance, one lesson, one teacher, one experience, and a life can be changed. Education is dysfunctional and always biased, but it is the answer to this world’s problems. It was the answer to mine, and I represented about half of all those students who have been forgotten and put on the back burner. I believe education is a tool that can build empires and tear down castle walls. I also believe education produces millions of people who have differing opinions and extremely different views, but it does produce one thing we can all agree on. It produces success, its main goal. I was the second in my father’s family to graduate high school, and I will be the first to graduate college in my entire family. I might not be the guy who everyone likes, and my views might not be widely accepted, but I have succeeded, wasn’t that the goal? I believe in education, and I believe in its power. Through it we can all succeed, maybe not together, but to one purpose and one goal. I believe.