Why Do We Need Education?
First of all, school
and education are not the same thing. Going to school is just one way
that we get educated. And ultimately, no teacher, parent or mentor is
responsible for our education. Only we are.
Being
educated means knowing how to solve problems. It means training your
mind how to be creative, how to be incisive, and how to be powerful.
Working for our education is like working for anything else: we know
we're getting smarter when we are challenged. Our brains are at their
best when we're able to solve a problem that at first seemed
impossible. These are the kinds of skills that can can change your
world, and make you more free and powerful.
Working Hard for Your Education...
1. Means you’ll make more money.
The average college graduate will make twice as much money as the average high school drop out.
2. Will expand your mind.
3. Will make you live longer.
More educated people are healthier, and they live longer. High school
graduates live an average of six to nine years longer than
non-graduates. Those with less education are more likely to die
suddenly from heart disease, cancer, infection, lung disease and
diabetes. Read more about it.
4. Increases the number of interesting people you’ll meet.
The more you know, the more conversations you can have with more
people, whether you're talking cars with your mechanic, talking
politics with the President, or talking about Rio De Janeiro with the
Brazilian model you just met.
5. Will make you happier.
Research shows that people with more education report being happier than those with less. Read the report.
6. Will help you change the world.
All of the people who are actively trying to create new things and to
solve problems do so with their minds, minds that have been sharpened
by education.
7. Makes you more attractive.
Yes. Brains and beauty do go hand in hand. Maybe it's that educated
people have more money and time to spend on clothes and gym
memberships. Learn more about it.
8. Makes you more free.
The smarter you are, the more choices you can make, the more freedom
you have to pursue your goals and dreams. That's right: people who are
better educated are more free.
9. Makes it easier for you to visit more amazing places.
10. Gives you power.
Money, influence, political sway - however you measure power - more educated people have way more of it.
Michelle Obama: First Lady of the United States
First
Lady Michelle Obama, a lawyer and administrator, is an advocate for
working parents, military families and national service.
Why you should listen to her:
Michelle Obama's life as First Lady of the United States is informed by her
early life, growing up as the daughter of a pump operator for the
Chicago water department. Though money was tight, her parents emphasized education and possibility for their two brilliant children. Both kids went to Princeton (her older brother, Craig Robinson,
was a bond trader, then become a much-respected basketball coach at
Brown and now Oregon State University); Michelle went on to Harvard Law
School, and returned to Chicago to do corporate law at the firm where
she met her future husband, Barack Obama.
She left corporate law to become a civil servant, working in planning,
social outreach and administration with the city of Chicago, AmeriCorps
and the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Today, Michelle Obama's personal focus is on raising her own two children, Malia and
Sasha, in the glare of White House life. Her more outward focus, as
First Lady, also revolves around issues of work-life balance; she's a passionate supporter of military families and of working mothers. She's helping to lead the drive for national service, encouraging Americans to volunteer in their own communities. (And of course, she's become an international fashion icon too.)
Mae Jemison: Astronaut
In
1992, Mae Jemison was the first African-American woman to go into
space. She's become a crusader for science education -- and for a new
vision of learning that combines arts and sciences, intuition and logic.
Why you should listen to her:
Mae Jemison is a poster child for an education that combines arts and
sciences. As she says, "I always knew I'd go to space." Trained as an
engineer, Jemison is a medical doctor, and she practiced in LA before
becoming the Peace Corps' Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia.
While running that effort, she researched Hepatitis B, schistosomaisis
and rabies with the CDC and NIH.
Back in the US, she'd returned
to her California practice when selected in 1987 for NASA's astronaut
program. She was the science mission specialist on STS-47 Spacelab-JEndeavour and her crew launched from and
returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In completing her
first space flight, Dr. Jemison logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23
seconds in space."
(September 12-20, 1992), a cooperative mission between the United
States and Japan. From NASA's factsheet: "The eight-day mission was
accomplished in 127 orbits of the Earth, and included 44 Japanese and
U.S. life science and materials processing experiments. Dr. Jemison was
a co-investigator on the bone cell research experiment flown on the
mission. The Endeavour and her crew launched from and returned to the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In completing her first space flight,
Dr. Jemison logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space."
In 1994, Jemison founded the Dorothy Jemison
Foundation for Excellence, which runs an internationally-known science
camp called The Earth We Share. She also founded BioSentient Corp. to
explore bringing NASA biofeedback technology to public market. Jemison
is also the first real astronaut to appear on Star Trek