Prince Edward County Week 3

Education means different things to different people and I think that with each generation, and the times they grow up in, that idea still applies. In the time of segregation where education was more of a luxury for anyone who wasn't white, kids were excited about going to school. They were eager to learn and in Green's book, she has a chapter focused on the stories of different colored kids getting told they wouldn't be able to attend because of the closings. These kids were devastated about being denied an education when, in today's world, children would be thrilled about having an extended vacation. I think that's very telling of the times then and now. Maybe for them, having an education was really seen as a way to make something of themselves and get out of the situations they were in. While some of that still applies today, education isn't as exclusive. Almost everyone is allowed to experience school of some sort, and maybe we take it for granted. We grow tired of it, of the routine, and many pursue an education because it's what our parents want, not us.

Education, to me, means the path to a better life financially, and maybe, in some sense, emotionally. It's the route to a well paying job and it's the path that will open the doors to get there. Education, to me, isn't just limited to finding a job, which is the end goal. Education is being aware of the world around me, being able to have an opinion on it and use my voice to start interesting and sometimes difficult conversations. I see it as the means to being able to put the world and the community in a broader context, to be able to think outside of celebrity gossip and other trivial things. It's a means to navigate around the world and reading Green's book, where I see education wasn't as accessible, it teaches me to be really appreciative of it.