In today’s world, we live in a sea of information that is just waiting for our gain. Some of us acquire this information from books, or other literary sources, but most of us obtain this from years of experience, and most importantly from an education. Unfortunately, not everyone in this world is lucky or eligible enough to obtain this knowledge. That is why I quote Jefferson when he said that, “Every man is created equal”, I agree that everyone has the divine right to receive an education if they choose to, and that everyone has a responsibility in this manner, from the government, to the parents, teachers, and students.
The United States government has a key responsibility in giving everyone a fair chance at getting the education that one needs regardless of his or her race or economic background. One example of the government steeping in and lending a helping hand is the Affirmative Action clause. Despite the negative thoughts that some people might have against affirmative action, professor Goodwin Liu debunks all the myths and misconceptions about it in his essay; “The Myth and Math of Affirmative Action”. Liu states, “In selective admissions, the competition is so intense that even without affirmative action, the overwhelming majority of rejected white applicants still wouldn’t get in”. Along with affirmative action, the government has a responsibility to make education affordable to those with financial troubles. Thus the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) exists. This application helps students who are economically disadvantaged, and have the potential and drive to pursue their academic careers further ahead. So far, the government’s role in helping prospective students has been suitable, for now. But as years go by, the cost for education doesn’t go down, thus financial aid having depleting funds. This is when students apply for loans and are deep in debt by the time they graduate. Although it is possible for a student to receive a full scholarship, sometimes it is inevitable to pay out of pocket, or apply for a small loan. Fortunately, there are many independent scholarships out there for students to pursue.
Parents play a major role in a student’s path to college. Parents are the foundation of a student’s journey to a future education; for example, parents play the role as counselor for when their child asks them about the different choices of colleges they would like to visit. A parent’s responsibility should be to go over the different choices their child has over future colleges, and discuss about them. That doesn’t mean that a parent should become patronizing and make the decision for the student. In contrary, if a parent were to decide which college and what major his or her child were to take, it would be giving the student an overwhelming burden. In William Zinsser’s essay, “College Pressures”, he describes the stress that many college students go through due to four kinds of pressure; economic pressure, peer pressure, self induced pressure, and parental pressure. The author describes the parental pressure as one where the parent pushes their child into studying or majoring into something that they don’t enjoy. Zinsser makes his point stating, “What I wish for all students is some release from the clammy grip of the future. I wish a chance to savor each segment of their education as an experience in itself and not as a grim preparation for the next step. I wish them the right to experiment, to trip and fall, to learn that defeat is as instructive as victory and is not the end of the world”. Although parents might mean well by steering their kids into a secure future, it only causes the student have a certain duty and guilt towards making their parents proud. That is why I believe that a parent’s role is very important in helping a student’s future, not by choosing for them, but by listening and understanding their child’s decision.
One would say that a teacher’s responsibility was to lecture about the standard material to the student and leave it at that. Unfortunately a teacher or professor’s role has turned out to be more involved in the student’s life. As Zinsser pointed out in his essay, one of the many pressures that students undergo is self-endured pressure. There is a quiet but chaotic battle going on in the classrooms between students. This battle that I’m talking about refers to the persistent attempts of the student to glorify oneself in front of their professor. There have been various cases in where students have pushed themselves to extreme manners just to be in the good graces of their educator. One example would be when a teacher gave the class a five-page assignment, and students would bring in ten page essays, thus turning a classroom’s academic environment into a competition. Although a teacher might not be aware of this, being the responsible educators that they are, they have the power to make things right in the classroom. One way to start would be to give certain guidelines to an assignment, for example no more or less than 5 pages. That way, students don’t go overboard and pull “all nighters” just to write a simple essay.
The student is the one who has the most responsibility of all. This is mostly true because it all depends on them; one’s future is not in the hands of anybody’s but oneself. It is the student’s responsibility to apply to the university of their choice, the student’s responsible for getting applications in on time, meeting deadlines, writing personal statements, and so forth. Out of personal experience I can only say that by applying myself and meeting my deadlines, was I able to get accepted to a number of universities. Unfortunately not by my choice college, but that is why this year my goal is to get a certain amount of credits done, and transfer to New York by next fall. The only way that I can accomplish this is to have my priorities straight and meet important deadlines. I believe all a student needs is the drive and determination to follow what they truly want in the future. Nobody can tell you what you ought to be or what path you should follow. It is up to the individual to choose his or her own path.
This comes to show that anyone is entitled to an education regardless of one’s ethnic background or economic differences. Everyone holds a certain responsibility to an individual’s education, whether it requires help from the government, advice from parents, guidance from an educational figure, or just one’s own intuition. It is essential that all these factors work together to create a fair and secure future for our prospective students.
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