Impact of education essay

Impact of Education Education is one of the most essential necessities of a personal life because without education, we would not have a brighter future. In two essays “ Learning to Read and Write” and “ A Homemade Education”, Malcolm and Douglass describe what they have gone through in order to become more successful in their pursuits in life. While Malcolm X lived part of his life in prison, he spent his time writing numerous definitions from a dictionary amongst the walls and tables. The elements of the dictionary motivated him to not only become a free man, but a well educated one at that.

Douglass, who also taught himself, began his life in slavery. But after a series of attempts, he escapes from slavery and pursues into his educational life in order to find a way to free all slaves from this madness. People pursue in education with different purposes, but the main reasons are to have a better job, develop their knowledge of understanding and improving oneself to become a better person. To begin, individuals pursue an education primarily because everybody dreams of having a successful career. To achieve these goals, they have to be adequately educated. In my childhood, I was raised with having high ambition to becoming a doctor to help people. My family shows great support for this career choice because it is considered a valuable job in receiving high pay. Recently, the economy has suffered greatly that people become greatly restricted in what jobs they can find and how much they are paid.

Some decide to go back to college to get a higher degree in order to find better jobs. From doing this, they are able to achieve any future plans or dreams that they never thought of being able to do. In “ A Homemade Education”, Malcolm was motivated by many erudite people such as Bimbi “[Bimbi] had always taken charge of any conversations he was in”(81). Because of his grand education, he used to control all conversations and it made Malcolm envy to have knowledge. With all of his efforts in his studies, he became a successful person in many fields such as being a writer, a leader and speaker of for the Nation of Islam. Another impact of achieving an education is that it brings knowledge to one’s life. Knowledge is a powerful benefit for people in their understandings.

Both Douglass and Malcolm also recognized the power of knowledge that impacted them into following education. With great effort, Malcolm was fascinated with the knowledge he gained “ I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying”(81). He made a progress in reading to understand the contents of a book even if it is the first time he picked it up. Knowledge also assisted Douglass in finding the injustice of slavery and motivating him to gain his freedom.

In the essay “ Learning to Read and Write”, he states that “ the more I read, the more I was lead to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their home, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes and in a stargerland reduced us to slavery. ”(64). He became cognizant of what fate was in hold for the enslavers.

That idea impacted him to gain more knowledge and escape slavery to share his knowledge and what must be done. Today, people who want to gain knowledge have to go to school for their education. People that attend are taught the essential lessons that they need in order to move forward in life.

Out of everyone in my family, I am the only one given the chance to go to college. Thinking of all the sacrifices my parents have done for me to get methis far, I will push myself to the limit. I will absorb every bit of knowledge that I gain to help not only myself, but also share my knowledge with my family and friends. Lastly, education can help make people become more perfect with their inner beings. Everybody wants to be perfect with both their knowledge and their character. Simply reading a book is one of the greatest methods in learning more about something that we knew little about. Opening a book can open up the world to us, seeing all of the people of many cultures.

Malcolm shares in his essay “ Anyone who has read a great deal can image the new world that opened. Let me tell you something: from then until I left prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk”(81). Reading a book made him excited to discover the outside world. When we are educated, we know everything more clearly; distinguish between right and wrong actions.

From there, we can go on towards the future without going astray to the wrong path. Douglass wrote in his essay “ what I got from Sheridan was a bold denunciation of slavery, and a powerful vindication of human rights. The reading of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts and to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery”(64). The knowledge suggests him to go against slavery and to find ways to gain his people freedom.

In my country Vietnam, we experience a baby boom that creates financial problems for pursuing in education. Even if they were able to get into school, not many know how to read and write (the basic necessities in life). In some attempts of harsh financial times, little kids would steal metal work in the railroad to sell and are not aware of committing a crime. As a result, many are sent to prison at a young age. People pursue in education with different purposes, but the main reasons are to have a better job, develop their knowledge of understanding and improving oneself to become a better person. Without ambition, we would not be able to reach our goals and become successful. Without inspirational figures such as Malcolm X and Douglass, would not have the inspiration to do anything in life. But it is our dreams that give us the ambition to move on and push our limit to great proportions.

Everyday as I go through my day, I wonder in the back of my mind, asking myself “ Will I become what I have always dreamt of becoming? ”