Diana Regalo
August 9, 2013
English 7
Fourth Formal Essay
Academic education is one of the most
important aspects for social development. For this simple reason it is
considered to be an important factor of change in society and freedom for an individual.
A society that is being governed and lead by educated individuals allows for a
society to survive and have positive change. The way education gives us freedom
is by preparing us for careers that validate our knowledge for the specific
career path and in addition to validating our knowledge it unlocks doors and
opens up opportunities for people to advance and become successful people.
Another way education empowers us as an individual is by giving us a sense of
security. It allows us to become mature adults and allows us to make wise
responsible educated decisions about our life and career choices. The only way
a person is going to succeed in life is through education and a positive
attitude.
As a child you grow up and are forced
to go through the school system to learn basic skills such as math, reading and
science. It is our responsibility as human beings to learn the way things work
and how to care for the world and everything in it. We need to learn the value
of math to learn quantities and be able to measure things to complete everyday
tasks and do jobs accurately. Once we learn how to read follow directions and
complete tasks we learn a sense of security and gain confidence that allows us
to believe that we are capable to do anything that our mind is set to do. In
addition to our self esteem we also learn to become team players and work with
other people. We learn basic skills that allow us to survive under pressure and
be able to gain freedom to choose our career paths and our goals. Learning these
skills allows us to gain a positive attitude and boost our self-esteem to
become successful individuals to accomplish realistic attainable goals.
A successful person is someone who
can work in a field they enjoy and build a living that provides food, shelter,
medical and other necessities we need to survive. Not only is it important for
us to get all the things we need but to maintain them is what is important.
That is where all the disciplined we learned in school and value shows in our
ability to be successful. When a person is educated he or she has the potential
to foresee what type of realistic goals he or she can accomplish with a plan to
reach their goal. They must also be focused on the factors that play in
accomplishing their goal and overcome obstacles that interfere with the
goals. Another aspect of successful people
is when people do the things they enjoy for a living. As long as we have passion in all the things
we do and use the fire and energy we get from the passion to complete our work
is what counts in being a successful person. However we seem to get distracted
the material world and we may also become discouraged by important people in
our lives.
California is well known to have the
worst education and yet instead of finding solutions to the problem we seem to
be passive about the situation. I believe California has potential in changing
the situation however the economic problem is not allowing for passionate
people to work harder and help the children gain a better education. In
general, I believe that the money that is set aside for the education of the
American children is not spent wisely and the teachers and leaders in the
education system needs to be modified in a way that teachers need to become
more educated and become experts in sociology and psychology to learn to read
their students and get them engaged into their academic achievements. In the
youtube video with the young student Jeff Bliss in Texas that gives piece of
mind to his teacher is proof that there are students out there that are
screaming and asking for help to change in the way teachers approach their
students to learn and become engaged. Teachers
need to be professional about their career choice and not only sit there and
pass out worksheets but listen to the students to make a difference in the
school system. Jeff had a shake in his voice and proved he was passionate about
what he felt was important to say at that moment. “You have to take this job serious!” He exclaims and shows he feels like he is
being cheated out of his education and he feels his instructor is just there
for a paycheck. There have been many times in my own personal experience where
I have felt my teacher was just there to take a paycheck and yet I was passive
about the situation because I was a lazy student. I knew if we said anything
about it required us the students to work and I really was not going to put the
effort in fighting for the change. Now as an adult, I see there has been a
greater consequence for neglecting to speak my mind in regards to the way
teachers handle their class and engage their students. Even though Jeff Bliss
was expelled from the school, I am positive he is proud of standing out for his
belief and for what he felt he was being cheated out of. I am pretty sure that
this student’s parents are proud of what he did and Jeff will live the rest of
his life content knowing he spoke his mind and did not hold what he felt and
boil internally. If more students like him would stand for their beliefs and not
be afraid to ask for change and be willing to work for the change the education
system would be a lot different. “If you
want to teach your students you have to get to his heart” Jeff Bliss exclaims
that is a scream for help from the students the teacher to teach them to open
up and learn from his passion. Becoming a teacher is not only a job but a
vocation, you must have to be born to be a teacher and understand the students.
Not all teachers are negligent about
teaching and reaching out to their students. The video created by the students
at Chabot, “The Passion Project” is a great example of how some teachers are
trying to reach out into their students and try to get to know them and find
out where they are heading to become productive successful human beings that
can contribute to society and allow for positive change in the world. The first
time I heard the video I was happy to know there are many people out there that
feel the same way about how we are pushed to work to buy things and forget
about what things we are truly passionate about. I also learned it is better to
accept and learn it is okay to be undecided in a career choice than to be ignorant
about your path and college life. Once an instructor realizes and listens to
the students and finds the reasons why a student may be lost it is much easier
for teachers to help people become successful. Once a teacher finds the root of
the problem it is much easier for teachers to help their students. This is the
reason why I strongly believe teacher and leaders need to learn and become
expert in sociology and psychology.
In the Video Focusing on the Lasers,
I was able to identify myself as a student and my attitude reflects in regards
to education in general. My perception has evolved throughout the years as I
have gained more and more responsibilities such as children and work. After graduating
from high school I became a “visitor” at the local colleges. I was visiting all
the community colleges from Vista to Laney, Alameda College and ended up in
Heald for a Dental Assisting program. I was visiting colleges because they were
close to my house and I needed to go to college after high school. I had no
idea what I wanted to do with my life and was willing to experience the college
culture and lifestyle with no sense of direction. I dropped out and moved out
of the area because I ended up married and pregnant. When I was pregnant with
my second child I decided to go back to school and finish a dental assisting
program at a local community college in San Marcos California. I finished
within a year and decided to take my board so I could obtain a better job that
paid more than minimum wage. I was focused and started working and soon
realized that this career path was not my passion and career of choice. So I
decide to go back to school and become a Laser student, focused and more
knowledgeable about the college culture and the path I need to take to finish
my courses to transfer out and manage to gain my validated degree that proves I
am capable to do speech therapy for small children and contribute to a society.
That is my main focus and being aware there are many obstacles I am going to
overcome I have a realistic attainable goal to reach. I am still learning time
management skills and trying to become more disciplined and prioritize my
studies however being a mother of three small children and working a full time
job can be very difficult.
There are many obstacles students
face when they are trying to accomplish their goal and graduate for a degree.
They might find themselves lacking support from the most important people in
their lives like their parents or spouses. Our religion and events might
interfere with finishing up college courses. Students might have other
responsibilities such as children or sick parents that depend on one income the
income of the student. Lack of money and means of transportation can always
play a huge role in becoming an obstacle for students to graduate. Other times
your health can also play a huge factor for a student to finish college due to
multiple doctor visits and treatments that may prevent students to attend
classes. Some students are born with immune deficiencies and at times have to be
admitted to the hospital and be required to stay for weeks at a time to
recover. Missing weeks at a time can be very challenging for students to
accomplish their dreams. It is very important for teachers or any professional
that works in the field of education to be able to recognize the signs of
struggle of a student and not assume the student is being irresponsible and
careless about their studies. That is the reason I strongly believe teachers
should have extensive knowledge to sociology and psychology. Instructors should
be professionally trained to learn how to speak to their students and how to
carefully approach them without being too critical of them.
When a teacher shows their students
they are not interested in the students as a whole package with feelings the
student will never open up and get engaged in the class and participate. There
are many of us who are hurt by life and/or and role models that have tear down
our dreams and have completely sabotaged our persistence in working towards the
things that makes us happy. Along with the pain we also carry fear and
loneliness that it becomes really hard for students to open up and allow
ourselves to grow. Just like one of Sean McFarland’s colleagues stated when
they were having dinner and having discussions on the projects taking place at
Chabot “you have to heal the students first…” is the same thing that has been
going into my mind this last eight weeks. Teachers have to become professional
doctors to deal with students and try to help the students find their passion.
In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer,
the main character Alex McCandles went to a prestigious school and
graduated with honors and yet he did not feel happy. I personally believe Alex
was being rebellious towards his father because of the double life his father
lived. Alex believed everything in his lifetime was a phony and he did not want
to be part of any of it from family to society to politics. According to Alex
he believes his school did not help him in life however I disagree. If he did
not go to school and earn his education I don’t believe Alex would have
survived as long as he did in the wild. His social skills would not have
allowed him to build such great friendships if it wasn’t for his experiences at
school and he would not have been able to be as skilled in his hunting and he
would not have been able to read the book that gave him the information on all
the berries he ate in his time in the wild. I do believe Alex lived his “good
life” and live his purpose however I think he would have been better off if he
would have survived and written his own book on his personal adventure. I also
noticed that he even felt the need to work in side jobs to be able to
accomplish his goal to get to Alaska. Yes, Alex made it to Alaska however he
still worked at fast-food places that meant he needed to graduate from high
school and he also worked a bit in Las Vegas to buy things to survive and make
it to Alaska. In the end Alex’s letter is written and I believe is my favorite
because he states what his life has been about and he seems happy with the way
he has lived it “I am reborn. This is my dawn. Real life has just begun.
Deliberating living: Conscious attention to the basics of life, and a constant
attention to your immediate environment and its concerns, example- a job, a
task, a book, anything requiring efficient concentration. (Circumstances have
no value it is how one relates to a situation that has value. All true meaning
resides in the personal relationship to a phenomenon, what it means to you)
The great holiness of FOOD- the vital
heat
Positivism, the Insurpassable Joy of
the Life Aesthethic.
Absolute Truth and Honesty
Reality.
Independence
Finality-Stability-consistency.”
(Into the Wild Pg. 168)
