Education What is necessary to be educated is dependent solely on the society in which the individual is placed. In any society, basic survival skills- the ability to find shelter, obtain food, and clothe the body- are a must. It is the methods of going about it that differ from society to society. For example, the methods for survival in the United States are drastically different than those needed in the middle of Africa. In the U.S., one needs to learn a way to make money for pay for food, clothes, and shelter. Once again, the specific skills needed vary from workplace to workplace. What a person needs to know to work retail in a department store is different than what a brain surgeon needs to know. Both of these jobs require different levels of education ( education as in schooling) and different emphases within the education. To survive in the middle of Africa, desired skills probably include hunting and food-gathering. What makes a person educated is how well they know the survival skills necessary in his or her own particular society. Many people argue that education in the United States improves the quality of life. How good a person s life will be is synonymous with how much schooling he or she has. This is only true because the emphasis in our society is on money. True, if one wants to make a lot of money in their job, one should probably spend many years earning multiple degrees. But, does this mean that the person who chooses to drop out of college to go to work in an orphanage in Mexico is any less happy? Are they any less successful or 1 productive than the computer engineer? Is one educated while the other isn t? However a person chooses to gain learning, though, in modern-day United States society there are many skills above and beyond basic survival skills that, while not necessary, may be ideal. How they are learned, whether through schooling in a formal institution or simply through life s experiences, is entirely up to the individual. It is important to have an understanding of one s environment and how all things work together. It is important to be aware of one s surroundings. It is important to be able to look beyond one s own social bubble to gain a world view. It is important to appreciate beauty in whatever form- art, music, nature, etc. It is important to understand oneself and to learn to realize and grasp potential. Most importantly, one should be able to listen, to empathize with, and to understand others. A college education isn t for everyone. But education, in whatever context, is important not only for the growth of the individual, but for the growth of the society. 2