What does education mean to You? by Nova

What does education mean to You? by Nova - October 2022 Scholarship Essay

Education is valuable to me as it provides the opportunity for a person to advance not only in their academics but also in their personage. A good education can supply a person with the needed opportunity to broaden their sense of learning and deploy this knowledge to their community.
My Mother was born in Brazil, where only about 69% of 15-19-year-olds are enrolled in school. Because of this, (As well as other factors.) Brazil has one of the largest income inequalities. When my Mother was growing up she started by attending a mainstream public school but struggled due to the high student-to-teacher ratio, and lack of patience from the teachers, who were already tasked with a lot and were underpaid. My Mother was behind in her academics. By the time she moved to the United States at the age of Sixteen, she had only acquired a fifth-grade education. That does not go to discredit her, after all, she came here not knowing a word of English. She would go on to acquire much worldly knowledge by way of living in the world, traveling, and experiencing things, but still, it did limit her in the jobs she could apply for as well as her economic abilities. One could argue that had she acquired a further education she might have been able to secure a spot at a college or institution, or at least get a better-paying job.
Education is a very crucial part of our life. By the age of five, about 90% of the brain is developed. This is when most children enter school, which makes it all the more important for children to have dedicated teachers and a quality learning environment. Education can prepare students for real-world scenarios, providing stability, and showing the importance of effort and work. Countries with quality education systems also have been proven to have lower crime rates and poverty levels.
Take Denmark, they have one of the best education systems in the world, and yet compared to ours, it would also probably be called one of the most untraditional. Children start school at around six, and compulsatory school only goes to the age of sixteen. they don't usually have class rankings or formal tests. Instead of focusing on the memorization of subjects and facts, they instead focus more on problem-solving and working within groups. The only big test comes towards the time in which they finish compulsatory school to decide where they want to go next. They have the choice between a more traditional academic institution or a trade school. They also have another option where students can take a year for themselves so they can study other topics of interest, such as the arts. Full-time students are even eligible for limited income support. All public education is free as well, meaning that unless you decide to attend a private school, you don't have to pay a cent. It's probably not a coincidence that Denmark also has a poverty rate of less than 2% and an extremely low crime rate. It is the eighth safest country in the world.
A study from UNESCO showed that if every student in each low-income nation even just had so much as a basic reading level, an estimated 171 million people could escape extreme poverty. And if each adult had completed secondary education, the global poverty rate could be cut by more than half. Education provides people with knowledge about the world and its state. They can further encompass the issues that affect them, and therefore have a larger capacity to change them.
It is also crucial to get an education that supports you and your needs. For a long time, I went to a traditional public school. Here I struggled in most subjects other than English. Most of my classes had about thirty-five to forty students per teacher. I found it difficult to take in crucial information and advance in my studies in such a large class. There was no space for individualized learning. Mat-Su Central School was revelatory. I had courses that could be individually tailored to my learning level and could do so on my own time and basis. My math soon improved, as well as my science. I felt myself actually learning instead of simply taking in words and sentences. It also gave me the time and space to explore my key interests, such as storytelling.
如果我被接受到旧金山Film School, I would be the first in my direct family to get a degree and attend college. I have always been a good student in English and Language Arts. I am an avid reader and I have written several screenplays and outlines. I even managed to get to the ninety-ninth percentile in Language Arts, and at the moment can boast of a 3.3 GPA. I would like to be a Filmmaker, so when I graduate as a High School Student from Mat Su Central School, I would like to eventually acquire an Associate of Applied Science in Digital Filmmaking. To me, it is key that I receive an adequate education in this field, so I can have further means and knowledge of my desired profession, and be more successful in it. Education has not only an influence on the information we receive but also on the things we do with that information.