FinalMugele

Kevin Mugele  Final Essay  Lit & Soc  Option #2

 Walking into my 2:00 Literature and Society class, I had little to no idea what to expect. The first day of class consisted of a question that seemed boring at first, yet now I realize how important it is. The question was, 'What is education?' On the first class day, Dr. Sherry gave us a piece of white paper, and asked us to draw what education meant to us. At first, I was a little hesitant due to my lack of drawing skills and my stubbornness in thinking it was a silly question. I fooled around for a few minutes, talking to some friends in the class that I had known previously, until I heard there was two minutes left and that we were putting them all up on the board. Quickly, I drew in stick figures and little detail what education had meant to me at the time. I drew some students in a classroom, talking about math and English. I drew students interacting, and a teacher's desk. I drew what education meant to me; schooling.

 Looking at the other pictures and comparing them to one another, I found them while some were very similar to mine and in relation to school, some were also vastly different. Some pictures defined graduation, school, and classrooms. Others talked about reaching their dreams, having a family, and becoming successful. As I do agree with most of these, a fine set definition of what education actually is is too difficult to come by. Every picture means something to each individual, and I believe that's how education is as well. Coming into this course, my view of education was strictly related to learning in school, graduating, and getting a job. Each step led to a new step, and it was all following a course that was pretty much predestined to you. Now, writing at the end of the class, my views on what education is has changed tremendously. While I still consider the items in the drawings to be a part of education, I think it goes so far beyond that.

 Education is an on-going process that does simply never end. At the beginning of this course, I would have said education was simply the process of school. That, however, has changed. After reading Rebekah Nathan's, My Freshman Year, I came to realize that education is a process and can change at any time. In My Freshman Year, Rebekah goes back into college as a freshman (She is a professor now) to help understand students better. She comes to realize that there is so much more to being a freshman in college than just the classes and homework. She found out that students have to deal with things involving extra-curricular activities, frats and sororities, making and meeting friends, homework, decorations in rooms, residence hall meetings, and many more. Going back to college as a middle-aged woman, Nathan found out that there is so much more than just the broad view of college. This is where my view changed. Initially I though education was just the school, but it is everything. I believe that education is the experiences and encounters that happen to you at every stage in your life. Even going back to being a freshman, for the second time, Nathan was learning and experiencing new things. This just proves that even just with a perspective change, new encounters can lead to you becoming more educated in certain situations.

 Another reading throughout this semester that changed my viewpoint on education was the reading by Kristi Oloffson, "Is a College Degree Worth Less?" This reading talks about the importance of having a college degree, and what it actually means. For nearly my whole life, I had thought of education as an on-going process, but simply to get your college degree so you could get a job. After reading this article, Kristi talks about if a college degree is worth the time and money, or if it is not. She talks about how so many people graduate college nowadays that having the degree does not make you stand out or any more suitable for the job than anyone else. "T he number of freshmen planning to get a master's degree rose from 31% in 1972 to 42% in 2008. Says John Pryor, the institute's director: "Years ago, the bachelor's degree was the key to getting better jobs. Now you really need more than that." (Oloffson) While a college degree is important, and very beneficial, it is not enough. That's where my viewpoint changed. Now, I realize that the college degree isn't simply going to allow me to get a job or make me happy. I need to encounter things, experience situations, and develop an understanding for the world, and my field of interest in order to get a job. For me, education is experience and interaction, and not just a college degree.

 A common theme on the posters we made at the beginning of class was success and money. Sometimes success meant having a lot of money, and sometimes it meant graduating college and having a job. In fact, for nearly every bit of success that was posted, they were all different from one another. I believe that the reason all the variations of success are different from one another is simply the fact that everyone views success in different terms. In the same sense, I think that educations is different for everyone as well. Education can mean one thing to one person, and something completely different to another. I believe that education is all about what you make of it. I think education does not rely on what you learn, but what you do, and you use it. For example, Joseph Laycock inspired me with his "This I Believe" piece. Joseph trained in martial arts nearly every day, and was a school teacher as well. Many people who train in martial arts want to fight, beat people up, and develop self-defense. They want to win, and that is their reason for doing it. Joseph practices it simply because he likes it, and he is trying to develop discipline. " In martial arts, laziness, apathy and despair will cost you the fight. As a teacher, these traits are deadly for at-risk students. Politicians and textbook companies now define what learning is, and school has increasingly become a gauntlet of standardized tests. The result has been a soaring drop-out rate. In this climate, students need a teacher who is still willing to fight." Laycock says this about his martial arts training, and relates it to his teaching. This shows a really good example about how his martial arts helps him with his teaching, and that it is a whole process. Without martial arts, he feels like he would not be as good of a teacher as he is. My views on education are that with every aspect of life, you can help and develop yourself into a more educated person. Whether it is making friends or practicing martial arts, everything can have an impact on your education and how you use it.

 There were two posters that specifically stuck out to me. These two posters had a picture of the earth, and the one said Reach for the Stars. My interpretations for these were reaching out and changing the world. Throughout this class, something that always stuck in my mind was about change. I felt that education is all about change. Whether it was failing a test and wanting a good grade, or changing your lifestyle to something new, I feel that education is how you change and use experiences to shape who you are. Michael Oatman grew up living the 'thug life' and had no control over his life. However, through power and change, he became a very intellectual man. Michael states that through poetry and learning in school, his life has changed around for the better. Through his interactions with people, he realized that the man he used to be was nowhere near where he was today. Oatman says, " I believe I am the living embodiment of the power of education to change a man. One day soon, a crop of fresh-faced college students will call me professor. I may even be the only black face in the room, the only representative of the underclass. I may feel the slight sting of isolation, but I’ll fight it off because I believe in the changes that my education has allowed me to make." Oatman also states that without this change, he could be dead or in jail like his old friends. For me, this hit home. It really showed me that education was all about change. It was what you made with it. Michael Oatman had a choice; whether to stay a thug or take his life elsewhere, and he became educated and made that choice.

Education is an extremely important aspect of everyone's life. The beginning of the semester, education was the process of graduating college and getting a full-time, well-paying job. That's all changed. After experiencing this class, my views of education are different. I now see education as an on-going process, that never ends. It's not easy, but everyone can do it. For me, education is all about what you make of it. I think education is the gaining of knowledge and understanding interaction. That includes knowing what to do in certain situations, and how to interpret certain aspects of life. Education used to be about a degree, but now it involves every step of the way, in school and out. It doesn't stop there, however, as every experience and encounter that you are faced with can keep developing you into a new person and change the way you are. I believe that education is different for everyone, and that it's how you choose to use education in your life. I think education is rewarding, because interacting with friends, colleagues, co-workers, and even people you don't know is wonderful. Living a happy life may be different for everyone, but I believe the more educated you become, the happier you can be. I believe education is changing, different for everyone, and will never stop. I don't think anyone can ever be fully educated because there is simply so much going on, and so many different perspectives you can take. For me, education is all about what you make of it, and how you use it.