I've come to the stage in my life when the end of high school is only around the corner and college/sixth form is the soon to be education path I take. For anyone not from England, our education system is different than standard American or other foreign schools. We attend high school from 12-16 and then sixth form/college from 16-18 and then you have the choice of Uni after that. Anyway, the time has come where we choose what courses we want to take and start having interviews at these sixth forms/colleges. The whole process is quite scary and the idea of it affecting our career paths and therefore our futures is almost completely frightening. An experience at one of these interviews got me contemplating. I was handed a sheet of paper that I had to tediously fill out and one of the questions took me by surprise. 'What do you strongly believe in?' I hope you all agree with me that this is quite a hard question for a 16 year old to answer. I left it blank sadly, but on the train journey home, I couldn't stop thinking about what my answer would/should be. I decided my strongest passion was education. As a British citizen, I am incredibly lucky to be entitled to 14 years of free education at a public school. As are the 9.5 million school aged children in England. But how many of these people actually appreciate how considerably lucky they are?
My passion for education and why I consider myself lucky comes from my double view on the topic of education. My parents have always supported me and my siblings during our school years and this always helped gave me a good outlook when it came to learning. But I'm also mainly passionate because I wanted them to feel happy that their children had got a good education when they couldn't themselves. My parents lived in a less economically developed country during their youth and never got to compete their education. My father from the age of 14 was taken out of school by his parents and made to work to help provide for his family of 7 as he was the oldest male child in the household and he has been working ever since. He told us that he enjoyed school for the short period he was there and he was good at learning but it was expensive and money was the key to survival. My mother married very young and therefore ended her education to meet her new family's needs. These kind of stories makes me sad, not only because they are about my parents but because these two people are bright and intelligent but they could have been brighter if they had continued with their education. I suppose its not all sad, I mean because of there lack of education they've also become two of the most inspiring people in my life. My father for instance, is the most hardworking man I know and I don't think I've ever seen him give up with a job or a task. Their background is also the reason my siblings and I turned out the way we are and why I feel I have to work hard in school.
So, I'm not going to lie, it does anger me when people waste the privilege we as British citizens or citizens from more developed countries get to educate ourselves and increase our knowledge when so many around the world don't get the chance nor have the money to do something we take for granted everyday. It may not be the most exhilarating of activities but someone across the world from you is probably paying their entire world to do the exact same as you. So my message for you is to appreciate what you have because you're lucky. But mainly, educate yourself when you still have the chance because it's important. It's what makes you different from everyone around you, it's what makes you interesting. So read books, pay attention in class, experience things that will benefit you for the better. Do it because you've been given the chance to be a better you.
Barbarella
xoxo
