Education Makes a Difference

Education Makes a Difference From one-room schoolhouses in tiny village huts to technologically advanced college classrooms, education assumes many forms and functions. Yet uniting every kind of learning is the promise to the public that whatever the position people occupy and frustrations people meet, they will have chances to access to transforming themselves through the valuable education. Education makes the opportunities for people regaining the hope and motivation and it also gives the possibility for people to learn skills and find their hidden talent. The social environment is filled of inequity and prejudice to the poor class crowds and exerts a negative influence on them. Without precious hopes and goals, some people became aimless and started to sink into depravity. What’s worse, they begin to refuse the chance to get help from other aspects, such as education. Someone without appropriate education, many people believe, is a victim of the adverse circumstance, deprived of the greatest opportunity of mobility in the society. The society leaves the despair and frustration to torment the disadvantaged group, whereas the education inspires people and rekindle the hope for them. Education offers unlimited opportunities generously to people who really value it, because it opens the door to younger generations, thus allowing the effect of the education accumulates and influence the present and the future. For instance, in the essay “Unforgettable Miss Bessie” by Carl Rowan, a ordinary teacher called Miss Bessie of a black school use her position and her spirit to help students cultivate the ability of literacy and learn to face the frustrations in daily life bravely and even the prevailing social discrimination. She told her students never to belittle themselves and lower the standard of their study just because of the positions where they current stood at. On other hand , she knew what her students really needed and was involved with them. In my view, not only was Miss Bessie an excellent academic instruct, but also taught them the chance to hold the hope tightly due to the lessons and encouragement. Setting her own experience in college as a vivid example, she used her perseverance to inspire her students to set and chase their personal dreams and goals. She told her students that external conditions, such as equipments and facilities were not the core of education, but the hope and goal could drive them to overcome obstacles. As the author wrote, “years later, her inspiration, podding anger, cajoling, and almost osmotic infusion of learning finally led to that lovely day when Miss Bessie dropped me a note saying, ‘I’m so proud to read your column in the Nashville Tennessean’ ” (Rowan 166). If the author did not get the suggestion and help of Miss Bessie to develop a habit of reading newspaper, he might not have the achievement like that. Education helped the author and his classmates regain hopes and motivation of life and the effect really kept forever, even if Miss Bessie passed away. Those people who got hope due to the education of Miss Bessie were also willing to help other. For example, the author mentioned Gladys Wood, a highly respected English teacher in a state high school who was doing the same thing as Miss Bessie did and used Miss Bessie to encourage himself (Rowan 167). Why did an ordinary English teacher has such a tremendous power? The author told us that the education gave the power to Miss Bessie to help them find their hopes. Clearly another reason why education make difference is to help people to learn useful skills necessary for the further life not only just for today. For example, in the essay My Favorite Teacher of Thomas Friedman, he selected his journalism teacher, Hattie M. Steinberg as the person “who left a particular mark on the world”. From Mrs. Steinberg, he got many skills on reading and writing, and realized the basic element in journalism could be used in many aspects. He thought that people now almost seemed to forget the fundamentals of success, but show much more interest in some tricks; however, the sentence of Steinberg, “these fundamentals cannot be download. You can only upload them, the old-fashioned way, one by one” (Friedman 404) always remind the author to pay attention to the base of everything. Meanwhile, education offer so many opportunities to people to find their hidden talent. Once people find their talent, their life will have a colossal change. Just like the topic “the Art of Spaghetti” that Russell Baker mentioned in his essay “Becoming a writer”, was absolutely novel and different with those fusty writing topics, such as “What I Do on My Summer Vacation”. Baker was struck and inspired by the creative topic. Also the little change promptly created the turning point in his life, heading to a totally new way in life. According to the author wrote at the beginning of the essay, he thought he could never did very well in writing and he felt fed up with the writing. However, after the new topic essay “the Art of Spaghetti”, as he said , “I did my best to avoid showing pleasure, but what I was pure ecstasy at this startling demonstration that my words had the power to make people laugh ” ( Baker 205). What’s more important, he wrote “Mr. Fleagel had opened a door for me”, who indicated a way for the new way of author by educaion. We could presumed that if the author did not meet Mr. Fleagal and got the new topic, he would never find his talent in writing or, even hated it. Education just acted as the spark to light up the darkness in minds of us and help us find what we were really good at. Education might not the only way to help overcome the obstacle and make you success. However, education could be a simple, active and permanent way to give possibilities to the most of people to obtain hopes and motivations in a difficult situation, learn basic skills and find their talent.

Work Cited
Rowan, Carl. Unforgettable Miss Bessie. Models for Writers. Bedford / St. Martin’s. p166, p167.
Friedman, Thomas. My Favorite Teacher. Modes for Writers. Bedford / St. Martin’s. p404
Baker, Russell. Becoming a Writer. Modes for Writers. Bedford / St. Martin’s. p205

Cited: Rowan, Carl. Unforgettable Miss Bessie. Models for Writers. Bedford / St. Martin’s. p166, p167. Friedman, Thomas. My Favorite Teacher. Modes for Writers. Bedford / St. Martin’s. p404 Baker, Russell. Becoming a Writer. Modes for Writers. Bedford / St. Martin’s. p205