Finding Yourself in Education by Jemma

Finding Yourself in Education by Jemma - October 2022 Scholarship Essay

When we think of education, our first thoughts are of classrooms filled with students taking notes. We might imagine a professor standing up front, rattling off fact after fact while students struggle to follow along or even keep their eyes open. This is how education can be depicted since learning audibly is what students from generations are used to. We sit in class and absorb all the information thrown at us, and sometimes it is a struggle to keep up. While this might be what we are used to, if you talk to a student right after class and ask what they learned about, many times it’s a struggle for them to recall what they just learned. We aren’t being educated in a way that’s beneficial for us; there’s more to education than just tuning our ears in to listen. To get students to learn, the first step is to get them excited. When students look forward to a day of education, they can get so much more out of it.
Education means involvement and interaction; it’s a two-way street. Our brain is better stimulated when we’re able to participate and apply what we know. Professors teach us and provide us with information, allowing us to share back what we know can make a world of a difference. Energy means everything, and when we’re energized inside the classroom, we energize ourselves outside the classroom as well, bringing education into other aspects of our life. Education linked with energy in the classroom compels us to deepen our knowledge further.
Education is understanding that every student is different. Some students learn better visually, some audibly, and others through hands-on learning. Everyone’s brain functions a little bit differently, but that doesn’t mean one person is smarter than another. Different learning styles can further promote or, on the other end, halt our understanding of what is being taught. We need to understand ourselves and how we best learn to reach our full potential. Education shouldn’t be categorized under one definition. Each person has a different outlook on what education means for them; it might just take a bit longer to understand how learning works best for you. It’s important to recognize that different learning styles require different learning methods, and when we understand that, we can understand that education is unique to each person.