Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. -Nelson Mandela

  It is the sixth week into school and I already feel overwhelmed. Being a junior means more responsibility, harder classes, and tests that are supposed to launch you into your future.  As hard as my classes are this year, I am more eager to learn and to prove to myself that I can strive for the best and push myself to learn, focus, and acknowledge everything around me. We have been taught that being smart and able to learn means to have perfect grades, to understand every subject to the max, to understand how life was made, quontum theorem, every constellation that there is. To me being smart with the ability to learn is defined by something very different.

  Nelson Mandela was a revolutionary politician, who wanted to end apartheid. Of course there is no doubt that Mandela was smart – he attended several universities and became the head of South Africa – but no school taught him how to lead a country, how to change his city, his world. Education just gives us the opportunity to take what we know and go farther than anyone ever has before.

  According to Merriam Webster dictionary, education is described as “The action or process of education or being educated.” Most would assume that education takes place in a school of some sorts. Of course a good portion of it does, but no matter where you are there’s always something new to see, experience, and to take in.  

  For most Americans, education means formal schooling – high school, college, trade school, etc.

  According to an article  “11 Facts About High School Dropout Rates” from DoSomething.org, in today’s school districts, US-wide, over 1.2 million students drop out every year. Adding that 75 percent of high school dropouts commit some form of crime. Staying in school is more than just learning about math. It shows dedication and gives you a sense of accomplishment once you walk across the stage. You stuck with your plan and made it through to the end, that, alone, is worth doing something with your life.

  So as the days go on and the school year gets harder, take everything you learn here and apply it to the outside world. Maybe you take in everything and get straight A’s. Or maybe you struggle, fall behind and want to quit. No matter the outcome at the end of high school it’s you who makes the decision to push, to open up, and educate yourself. It’s your choice on what you do to change the world, for the better.