THANKFUL FOR EDUCATION

Day 352 of 365 days

When I was young, I took things for granted. I believe many other kids did so, as well. After all, we were young and we didn’t know what life could be like on the other side. One thing we took for granted was education. In my country, all kids must go to school, so it was a given. We never thought about how lucky we were to be educated.

Then slowly as I grew up, I began to appreciate things around me more. As I saw more and more of the world out there, I realized all the things I’d been given are not rights, but privileges. I realized that being literate is not a right, but a gift. As a female, being able to receive an education is a privilege that many women in other countries are still fighting for. No one chooses where they are born so the fact that I grew up in a country that doesn’t reserve education for one gender is a stroke of luck.

My education has given me the ability to communicate my thoughts, form an educated opinion, and better understand the world around me. Attending classes outside of my major allowed me to reinforce my pre-existing abilities as well as broaden my horizons. My education has tested who I am and who I can be. It has taught me what it means to see a goal and want to achieve it. When assignments get challenging and it seems easier to quit, I motivate myself to strive for a high grade because of the positive impacts it will have on my future.

When you think about it, your education shapes who you are. Your interests are introduced and explained to you during your education. You discover your career goals and learn to become the type of person that has the drive to chase after what you want, even when it gets challenging. Your relationships with other people, another major factor in shaping you, are typically introduced and maintained through your time spent in school.

So the next time you are frustrated by having to learn differential calculus, think about how many people around the world are fighting for the ability to learn and what your education has done for you thus far.