What Does an Education Do?

Hey guys, welcome back to Olivia's Overrated Opinions. This week's episode, however, is not an overrated opinion. In fact, it is a topic that should be talked about way more since these issues have been going on since the dawn of time. Today, we are discussing the discriminations that are within the education system. More specifically, regarding women's rights and racism within the classroom. So, a more serious topic for this episode, but it does need to be spoken about so we can progress as a society and live as equally as we can. I also have conducted some interviews with my peers discussing their education experiences. So, we'll take a look at that along with research I've compiled from other sources. Alright, let's begin. The question that's been asked all semester has been, what does an education do? Well, let's talk about it. The dictionary defines an education as the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university. Now, that's a very vague definition, in my opinion. I think education is so broad and can't be limited to just systematic instruction. There is a second definition, however, which I find works better. It defines education as an enlightening experience. That definition gives the idea that education is positive and profound, which I think is what it should be. I like how broad it is. So much could fit that definition and so many things can also be defined as education in some way. I feel like education doesn't have to be limited to what you learn in the classroom. It could be anything. Oh, you found new information about something from a street sign? There you go. You just learned something new. Us as a human race are learning things and educating ourselves and others every day without even realizing we're doing it. I think that's such a beautiful thing about us as people. We naturally want to learn and we're driven by knowledge and using that knowledge we help other people learn as well. But of course, there was a time when not everyone was able to have access to an education, no matter how big or small. Reading, writing, anything like that wasn't accessible to groups of people for way too long. I referenced a piece of writing that I found really interesting in a paper I recently wrote, so I want to reference it here as well. It's called Teaching to Transgress by Bell Hooks. She talks thoroughly about racism and oppression within the world, especially within education, and she just really emphasizes pushing the boundaries and breaking away from the standards that society has placed on the world. There were so many boundaries back then, keeping people from learning and getting the education they wanted and deserved. She spoke on how women in the apartheid South were only really given three career choices. Marriage, which I would not consider a career, teaching, or becoming a maid. There was such little access for women, especially black women, not even that long ago. To be educated was such a privilege that only certain groups of people were allowed to receive it. Education is still a privilege, but we've come such a long way as a society that education is so normalized and integrated in everything we do. Having an education, whether it just be a high school education or a higher education, is almost necessary to live and be successful in the world today. It's how you get a job, how you make money. Without having education, it would be very hard to make a living. Even connecting with people would be hard as well. If all those biases towards specific groups of people were still in place in the education system, there would be no connecting with people who are different from one another. We learn so much from our peers and community members so we can share and adopt each other's cultures. It's so important in today's society to learn about different cultures, especially in the United States, where we're a melting pot of everyone from around the world. If we didn't learn about those things, we would be limiting our knowledge from the world and surrounding communities. For this portion of the episode, we're going to look at some interviews that I've taken and interviews a classmate of mine has taken. I wanted to interview people that were close to me who I knew were going to open up to the questions I asked, and also I knew they had different experiences going through school, so I was interested in seeing how they would answer the same questions. I first interviewed my older sister, Sophia. She graduated college a few years ago, so I wanted to see how she was navigating through life after college and if her education was beneficial to her now. A key thing she told me was, there are many things that were left out, like how to do taxes, how to budget, how to apply for a loan, all things that are needed when going through the higher education system and then ultimately when they spit you out at the end. I'm glad she brought those things up because I agree. There should be classes or something to teach young adults how to actually function in reality as an adult. We're not really prepared to handle ourselves and truly be alone in the world. We're left to figure it out all by ourselves. Sophia also mentioned during our interview that we're taught things that are very superficial, which led to us talking about navigating real life without having the knowledge on how to do so. Learning things like math, science, and humanities are very helpful and you need to do those things, but for the most part, the depth of those subjects are only necessary for those who plan on working in those specific fields. I think there should be classes everyone needs to take that teaches students how to do taxes, buy a house, all the things that every human needs to do in order to live their life in the world. I did one other interview with my mom, Eileen. She went to business school instead of a university, so let's see how different her experience was compared to my sister's. So she went to business school, as I said before, and after she graduated, it took her a long time to find a job because she didn't have a degree. She told me, So right off the bat, I think companies and hiring jobs shouldn't be as biased towards people without college degrees because they can do just as well as somebody with one. Now, of course, some jobs, you definitely need a degree, but for those that really don't, the companies should be more flexible, for sure. During my English class, where we had to conduct these interviews, we had to pick one out that a classmate did that we found the most interesting. I chose my classmate Grace McPadden's interview she did with her sister, mom, and grandmother. I loved how she used family members from three generations and we could really see how much progress was made within the education system. Grace's interviewees spoke about their experiences very candidly, and we saw with her grandmother, she didn't really get encouraged to go to college or pursue her passions, but as we end with her sister, she finished college and had a successful career. I thought it was so cool seeing the progress made in such a short amount of time in the grand scheme of things, and I think that only means we're also making progress as we speak without even realizing. Over the course of history, I think we have come a long way, opening doors for women and people of color who didn't get the same opportunities as everyone else for education. From not even having access to any form of education, to now receiving equal opportunities as men and thriving in the working world. There's definitely more that needs to be done, but the progress we have made just means that there is always room for more. Thank you for listening, and I'll see you next time for more of Olivia's Overrated Opinions.