Journal #5

"The Irony of Education"

In North America, we as a society, are used to pre-school, elementary, high-school and then the adventures of post-secondary. Sometimes, it seems like it's never going to end, and we can't wait to get it over and done with and on with what we've been studying for. Once you get to a third-world country, such as Africa, schooling isn't as optional. Students there will take as much education as they can get, because for them, it's something that isn't quick to come by. The economy there is so different, in ways that I probably couldn't even explain, mainly because I've never been there to see it for myself. From what I've heard and seen on television though, it's a place of sickness and death, but the children still seem joyful to have what they have. Here, we're used to having our family with us everyday, not on their deathbed due to AIDS, we're in school everyday and have the option of going tomorrow. These children never know when they'll get sick as well and not be able to go anymore, so they really want to take every chance they can to go.


We are so unaware of the things that happen in other countries that we continue to go on with our lives as if nothing wrong is even happening. We don't seem to clue in that while we are sitting in class, taking advantage of it and slacking off, there are students that couldn't go that day, because their mother just died of HIV right in-front of them. They realize more that life is short and that the best opportunites are hard to come by. In a place like Africa, they have not only the need for education, but the want and strive. Here, in North America, there are constantly students skipping out on class and even some students that just don't bother going three or four days out of the five day school week. Students there, will run miles a day, there and back, just to make sure they make it to school. I can't remember the last time I, personally, or anyone else I know ran to school to make sure they got there before the bell. It's just another way we take advantage of it. We figure, a few minutes late won't hurt, well.. if we're a few minutes late, why even bother going to class? That's the state of mind that us as so called "role-model" students need to get out of.


North Americans are too used to having things just handed to them. We have had education our whole life, supplies for class, clothing, food, shelter.. everything's always been there, for the majority of us. There are some people that are put in situations where their life at home could effect their schooling, living or job arrangement, causing them to drop-out, lose their job or even their home. We waste our money on stupid things like fast food and brand name clothing, while in third-world countries, their lucky to find a full meal for the day and hardly have enough clothing to cover them. We take all of those things for granted, not just our education. I blame the way our economy has evolved over the years. Everything these days is about high maintenance and looking your best, and I will admit, I'm one of the people that can sometimes fall into that category, so I can elaborate on that. Telling our parents that we need a certain sweater as opposed to just wanting it, finding the highest priced brand, buying brand make-ups, shoes, going out with friends to drink and smoke up when times get rough and blowing off school to do something that might be a little more fun. Everyone gets a wake-up call though and realizes life isn't always a party, there is a time where brands don't matter, looks aren't everything and that there's a time to have fun with your friends later. Third-world countries understand that a lot better than we do.


Here, we are stuck in the era of impression. We are constantly worried about losing, not friends, but a social status. Having school smarts, makes you street stupid, which in some places can be a scary thing. I personally, beleived in that for a really long time, until I finally realized some of my friends were getting ready to graduate, and I was behind a credit because I thought I could just ease through the course. Impressions can do that to a person. You think you finally have yourself in a stable place, good friends that won't let you down and you're having a great time, until you realize you've lost yourself. The friends you thought were good friends, are never there and you're stuck with a failing grade going into the final exam. It's at that moment, you almost wish you had the mentality of someone in a country across the world. You wish that you thought things through a little better and realized that school really doesn't go on forever, and when it does come to an end, you need that passing mark, or you'll be stuck there for much longer than you hoped.


All in all, in a country so far away from this, they're lucky in a sense. Lucky to not have to worry about the impression they might set on someone by going to school, because they are all the same in a way. They all want to go to school, get education, and one-day, hopefully, they will move on and do something greater with their lives. It's the strive that they have that I really wish more people here could grasp.