“Life’s Teaching’s”
The
basics of success in life are based off of getting an education and being
someone important in life. Education
according to Wikipedia is in its general
sense a form of learning in which the knowledge, skills, and habits of a group
of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teachings,
training, or research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of
others, any experience that has a formative effect on the way
one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational. The basics of achieving a successful life is
to have the foundation and building blocks, which are followed by a stable
environment at home with loving parents/family that encourage good study habits
and a proper lifestyle, But what happens when we do not have the basics to have
a good education and achieve a better life. Some of us may be born privileged with both
parents who have had an education to achieve a career. Therefore pass that
tradition on to their children and living in a well to do lifestyle, while
others have the disadvantage of being brought up in a singe family home with
struggles and an unsupported environment where education is not a main objective.
For instance in the real life story
and the book by Jon Krakauer Into The
Wild, A well to do guy from the suburbs Christopher McCandless, has just
graduated from Emory University with a bachelors degree with a major in history
and anthropology. Upon graduation
Christopher has already made up his mind to go on an epic journey where he
doesn’t plan on mentioning it to his family and ends up donating his school
savings fund to charity. Such as when he
mentions in Into the Wild, “I’ve
told them a million times that I have the best car in the world, a car that has
spanned the continent from Miami to Alaska, a car that has in all those
thousands of miles nit given me a single problem, a car that I will never trade
in a car that I am very strongly attached to- yet they ignore what I say and
think I’d actually accept a new car from them! I’m going to have to be real
careful not to accept any gifts from them in the future because they will think
they have bought my respect” (page 21).
Chris begins to see that there is more
to life than the quality of items. Upon
Chris’s journey he begins to realize what life is really made of and doesn’t
think that materialist things in life make up a person.
He wants simplicity and has a big admiration
of nature and what it’s made out of. Yet
doesn’t see that his entire life he came from a privileged background, with
well to do highly educated parents with successful careers enough to help him
afford his college education, and with that to succeed in life with a good career.
But Chris needed more in life and on his
voyage he found himself in a journey of self discovery, where he met many
characters that opened his vision to see how life really is and that he needed
more in life than a successful career.
He begins to change as a person as Chris states in a postcard to his new
friends; “Wayne, you really should read War and Peace. I meant it when
I said you had one of the highest characters of any man I’d met. That is very
powerful and highly symbolic book. It has things in it that I think you will
understand. Things that escape most people. As for me, I’ve decided that I’m
going to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and simple beauty of
it is just too good to pass up. One day I’ll get back to you Wayne and repay
some of your kindness…” (Page 33-Into The Wild). He began to see the
value of friendship and that his values are now not materialist things but that
the values in his life now is gaining respect from others.
Childhood Values:
The
value of education can be defined differently depending on each person, but to
most it is imposed from childhood. It is
what our parent’s want for us and what they think is best for us. As a child our parents teach us and guide us
in creating the foundation for a better future. As children we don’t have any
idea of what responsibilities are awaiting us once we grow up. For that reason
we fall into dreaming and wanting to do good to get rewarded from our parents
or our peers. Even if we may not like
school or extra curricular activities that will eventually help in our
scholastic careers we do it anyway sometimes with no questions asked since we
my not have an idea of what we want to do or be when we grow up.
Such is described of Chris’s life, “In truth McCandless had been raised in the comfortable upper middle-class environs of Annandale, Virginia. His father, Walt is an eminent aerospace engineer who designed advanced radar systems for space shuttle and other high profile projects while in the employ of NASA…Walt went into business himself… His partner in venture was Chris’s mother” (Page 19-20 Into The Wild). Showing that Chris’s life had begun a concrete foundation to provide for a successful career. But as a kid we need to see that parents who begin to educate their children at a younger age and impose the value of how important education is regardless of the circumstances it will be the thing that will help us succeed in life and help us be something better especially coming from a disadvantaged background it means being able to break the cycle and grow up to have a good well to do future.
Adulthood Values:
As an adult we realize that sooner
than later we have to face the reality of life and its responsibilities and
education is the key factor to help us have a less stressful life. The importance of an education is imperative
as it is what will keep us on our feet and will make us who we are. As kids we could never understand why our
parents wanted us to have a good grades and why we needed to succeed In school,
but as adults we begin to see that life is made of those who make something of
themselves and work hard at creating a great scholastic career. Chris states to his sister at one point in Into the Wild,
“That their parents behavior was “so irrational”, so oppressive, disrespectful
and insulting that I finally passed my breaking point” (Page 64). Finally as a grown adult Chris sees that he
is able to decide for himself and not feel so taken back by his parents is that
Chris is able to make up his own mind and Discovery what adulthood really is.
Society Values:
To society a person with a good
education means you come from a well to do background, and most people feel
they have to feel excepted with that meaning that education is what makes a
person be somebody. When you come from a
well to do background life seems to open up more doors for many. Besides
gaining more knowledge it creates a well-spoken, hard worker, and a higher job
title, which comes with respect and power to be in charge of life. An educated person is someone who shows to be
well spoken such as Chris did, “There was something fascinating about
him, explains Mrs. Westerberg… “Alex struck me as a much older than
twenty-four. Everything I said, he’d demand to know more about what I meant,
about why I thought this way or that. He was hungry to learn about things.
Unlike most of us, he was the sort of person who insisted on living out his
beliefs” (Page 67-Into The Wild). Chris
is a good example of a person who gained knowledge from school yet wanted to
still learn from others and also pass on his own knowledge to the outsider whom
he encountered. As this also became a
journey of self-discovery and education, through living out experiences and
gaining more self-strength and values.
Challenges-Family/Loved
one’s:
The challenges one may have that
affects most is the challenge of giving up time with our loved ones that being
our family and friends. We must
sacrifice bonding/quality time with our family, which is missing out on family
reunions and weekend get together’s, even vacations and trips. Other times we miss out on recreational events
with family and friends, such as late night dinners and drinks with the buddies
even sporting events, are all missed due to some of us having to stay home, go
to study groups to finish our homework or study for exams. All the good quality times missed are all
scarified for a better education and a better future.
For instance Chris’s education
was shown even when people weren’t aware of his educational background “You
could tell right away that Alex was intelligent,”… “He read a lot. Used a lot
of big words. I think maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did
too much thinking. Sometimes he tried to hard to make sense of the world, to
figure out why people were bad to each other so often. A couple of times I
tried to tell him it was a mistake to get too deep into that kind of stud, but
Alex got stuck on things. He always had to know the absolute right answer
before he could go on to the next thing” (Page 18- Into The Wild). And that’s what I would
like one day to accomplish, that although people may not know what your
thoughts may be you make sense to yourself. That’s is why I think At times I find myself
missing out on the fun with family and friends because I’m in my room finishing
up homework or studying for a big test to gain more knowledge. At times I face the challenge of wanting to
give up but then I think about everything my mother has done for my siblings
and myself and how she’s imposed that education is the main focus in life as
its what will provide us a better future and therefore I can break the cycle in
my family and have an educational accomplishment that will last me
lifetime.
Education has been the focus of my
life as my mother being a single parent came from a background of reaching only
the 5th grade level as the small town in Mexico she came from didn’t
have a higher education level and all the children of every level were taught
in one class by only two teachers. When
she came to the U.S. she joined the working class and of course met my father
who both had a common goal of working hard to provide their children a better
future. The struggles of working hard to
provide for 2 children became harder as my mother became pregnant with her 3rd
child it being my younger sibling and the pressure of building a better
lifestyle for us became greater. My
Father who only had a few years of school in Mexico always seemed to aspire for
more and unfortunately instead of returning to school or finding a higher
paying job, was enticed by his friends and acquaintances lifestyle, which caused
him to fall into a false lifestyle. My
Father lied to my entire family, as his is new occupation drew him to become a
drug trafficker during the late 1980’s to early 1990’s. By Early 90’s my father was arrested and
sentenced to 25 years in prison, my mother after being lied to for several
years became a single mother of 3 young children who emphasized the importance
of a better life through us completing our education. Looking back on it the
role my mother and father both played in the struggle of my life encouraged me
to pursue an education and thus far pushes me even more to become the first
person in my family to be a college graduate will overcoming the challenges and
struggles of my past.
Challenges-Work/Responsibilities:
Another
challenge in life that most college students face is working to help support
themselves and their families, all the while attending college and still trying
to have a better lifestyle. Maintaining
a well-balanced lifestyle is a very difficult thing to do as for myself I must
work hard to provide a home, food, a vehicle, utilities and comforts for my
mother and myself. While at the same
time working full-time as a Quality Analyst and in the Accounts receivable
department for a Private Orthopedic Practice, my job duties including writing,
reviewing, editing, revising and billing for medical reports and then
distributing them to different parties.
The mindset I must have must have a prepared thinking process as each
day I must arrive at the office and prepared to work at a busy desk. Then after work rushing off to school during
the evenings all scarifies to reach a higher goal. By this time during most evenings my brain is
so exhausted, yet there is always all these stressful responsibilities in the
back of my head that need to get done and that I need to do in order to succeed
in my education and still have it all.
In that meaning a better life with better comforts and a successful gratifying
career even if that means not sleeping most nights for staying up studying or
giving up lunch/breaks at work to make education my life priority.
Society- The Role it
plays:
The higher someone reaches an
educational level the more that comes with it.
As a well educated person is perceived with more respect and looked upon
for knowledge and guidance. While others
use their education for a higher position to gain power that is used to look
down upon others. And some merely follow the wishes of their parents to satisfy
wishes of those we love. Either path
chosen is the goal of most people in our society, to study and get good grades
while as a child. Then through our adolescent years joining certain school
clubs/teams whose focus is to gain skills and gain access to more doors being
opened to help students get into certain accredited colleges. There after leading adulthood off to college
to gain a career path that leads us to success and happiness. Which is to gain the all American dream of
reaching a higher education with a good career.
To gain the dream of the white picket fence with children to pass on
traditions, so that our children can carry on and continue the cycle of a
better educational path.
The role it also represents in our
society for my culture is to impact and gain lead way for the people of
Hispanic/Latin backgrounds as they are still considered minority yet not as
much as in past decades, in the article by USA-Today: Record
rate of Hispanic Students Heading To College,
“Nearly seven in 10 Hispanic members of
the high school class of 2012 — 69% — enrolled in either a two- or four-year
college last fall, up from 49% in 2000” (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/09/pew-hispanic-center-students-college/2146697/). Which is even more
encouraging to overcome certain obstacle/struggles knowing that I to can make a
difference and impact society and in my cultures eyes gain respect and be
looked upon as more than just a part of the minority. But be seen, as a change in my generation to
society and most of all having gratification in one day becoming a role model
to the future generations in my family.
Why Do I Want A
Better Education:
An education to me means to gain
higher knowledge that will give me the skills to achieve a successful career path,
which will provide for a more comfortable life style in providing for the basic
survival needs of my family and myself. But
besides the comforts of gaining a better employment, the reason behind my
pursuit of a better education is to break the cycle in which my family has not
had the opportunities that I have to achieve the goals and dreams that will
bring new meaning to my family. As I
would become the first person to graduate college and besides all the pride
that comes with that huge responsibility I would want for my legacy to be
passed on to my nieces, nephews and one day my future children and their
children’s children.
Furthermore
I want to pursue a dream of gaining diverse knowledge that which my mother and
father were not able to achieve. Because
above all of the hardships my mother lived through her dream was always and
still is to have had the opportunity to at least finish an elementary
education. In which unfortunately she was not able to do. But not due to her not wanting to study but an
education was not a choice in my mother’s life.
And as for my father due to his mistakes of wrong choices in life, he
was not able to be a part of my life during my childhood and adolescent years as
a federal prison was the barrier that kept us apart. As he wrote in his letter to me, that he had
realized a bit to late that an education is the key to happiness, success, but
more than anything to respect in life. He
was able to spend his time in prison studying where he gained a high school
diploma, and then went on to achieving a Bachelors Degree in Business. This unfortunately never influenced my life
as a few years into my adulthood years he was released back to his hometown in
Mexico. When I visited him in Mexico he mentioned to me to never stop being a
good student as it would get me far in life.
I carry that advise regardless of his choices in life, for he realized
that it was to late in life to try and be a role model to me. And to my dismay after his passing last year
in July of 2012, I realized what he meant when he told me that Advise. Which is the strength that has helped me cope
with my struggles. And it has helped me
move forward to want to triumph in my educational goals and in my life. Both my
parents have always encouraged me to achieve what they never could, but more
than anything to learn from their mistakes and struggles and to achieve that
dream of prosperity and happiness with those we love. As Chris once wrote, “Don’t
Settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new
horizon. You are still going to live a long time, …and it would be a shame if
you did not take opportunity to revolutionize your life and move into an entirely
new realm of experience” (Page 57- Into The Wild). Goes to show that we are to make of our live
what we want and the reasons behind them is for living out experiences that
will change our lives. In my case showing
that education will be the key to leaving my past behind as it will open the
door to building a better career/future for myself, as I must now finish what I
once upon a time began.
