Graduation Speech : My Educational History Essay

Every fall, millions of students return to school to learn about math and science, English and history, every weekday until summer finally returns. Year after year, the same fundamental classes return and, time after time, seem to faintly impact the students. Schools have been designed so you learn the same information, slightly more in depth, from kindergarten to senior year. What about topics that would further the student in their future after graduation? Schools emphasize the same core subjects throughout the years, but not the real life obstacles millions of millions of people face. What if schools required classes on survival, job interviewing skills, studying, how to pass the SAT- all classes which would further students in their

It was junior year of high school Akrita and I had gone so far together academically growing and so motivated. Although we had our successes we weren’t the life of the party not very outgoing when it came to socializing. We’d been friends since 8th grade always by each other’s side no matter what. We had familiar lives and we were basically each other’s support systems as well. We had so many high hopes for each other and although that was the case we still wanted to enjoy ourselves and have fun as teens. It was about time we had some fun.

When living in America, the chances of one having received some form of general education are high. Schools come in all shapes and sizes to accommodate the needs and preferences of parents and students; they can range between the extremes of religious to liberal arts and private to public education. In E.B. White’s “Education”, he describes his son’s shift from a city private school to a country public school. In contrast, the public education I received before entering college was very different from the experiences of White’s son as a child.

I am very fortunate to be employed with Columbia Public Schools in Columbia, Missouri. Our city is located in the middle of the state of Missouri about 2 hours away from Kansas City, Missouri and 1.5 hours away from St. Louis Missouri. I am currently on assignment at Battle High School (BHS) the newest of three high schools in our city. The building completed construction three years ago and only has academic data for one year. Our high school services 1,400 students from grade 9 to 12. Our staff have an average of 8 years of experience, with more than half with an advanced degree. The teacher – student ratio is 1:18, total teachers are approximately 78. The demographic of students include 5% Hispanic, 30% Black, and 56% White. The other 8% include Indian, Asian and those whom are bi-racial and choose not to identify with only one group. The overall attendance rate of our students is 76% and 48% of our students are eligible for Free or Reduced lunch.

The prominence of early childhood education in children’s lives is now beyond questions. An initial start to life is well recognized as the foundation to future development. Not only have the children who participate in early childhood program get benefit but also the families and community.

Literacy has always been a huge part of my educational journey. Starting in Pre K, I was required to write and illustrate a book each year up until the 6th grade. We could write and draw any and everything we wanted. These books were not graded nor did they have any affect as to if you were to be promoted to the next grade or held back, but rather for teachers to review and see our improvements over that year. The books were always returned to us during the last week of school for us to take home as a keepsake. These books gave me something to be proud of and I looked forward to the day we would start another one.

I remember seventh grade like it was yesterday. Everything was falling into place. I was happy with my life, had a strong relationship with God, and was content with where I was headed. My elementary and middle school years were just like any other Catholic school student. My schedule consisted of going to school, attending church, a sports practice, and then completing homework like everyone else. It wasn’t until eighth grade, where I was uprooted from that cookie cutter lifestyle, that I was actually challenged and pushed harder to be the best person possible, and to overcome the diversity and influences that I faced in the public school setting.

Going to college can be a very rewarding experience for a traditional, or non-traditional student who wants to go back to school. More money on a paycheck can be a reason why someone would want to presume their education. Another reason why someone would want to go on to college would be to increase their intellect so they can be more sophisticated in life. Someone might also want to further their education because college teaches your life skills. A college education can be very rewarding for a traditional or nontraditional student by making more money, more intellect, and learning life skills for the world.

When we look back 40 years from now, we will probably remember our high school

When I was in high school I had one goal, I would graduate top of my class and go to the University of Florida for pre-medicine, then onto their medical school. I never considered that I would want anything else, so I went to a specialty high school that would allow me to specialize in Biomedical sciences(STEM) and never even thought about the possibility of a life other than the one I had so precisely planned out for myself. When my nephews were born my sophomore year all of my priorities changed. I cared more about hearing their first words than attending my BioMed classes, and more about going to mommy and me days, than spending a day in the clinic working on beat up football players. I became so entranced with their little growing personalities that I shoved my goals to a back burner. By the time graduation rolled around I wasn 't failing by any means but my dreams of being valedictorian were long gone, and I felt like I needed to find a whole new life plan instead of trying to get back to the old one.

It has become apparent now more than ever that having a college education is an unavoidable requisite in order to better ourselves. Every year thousands of students graduate high school and start to enroll in college. Another key factor in the decision towards obtaining a college degree is the example the young student saw at home; however, not all of the young students entering college come from a family with college graduate parents, which can play as a huge motivation in their path toward their college degree. Many people see this as the start of a new journey into the path of success since most Americans grow up with the idea that a college education will help us better our lives as well as to bring us success. According to Scott-Clayton from Columbia University, “Individuals with bachelor’s degrees earn about 60 percent more than those with just a high school diploma.” Today, we must not only acquire a high school education, but also graduate with a Bachelor’s degree. A college degree itself won’t guarantee you success, but it would give you the necessary tools and knowledge to achieve economic and personal success. In the future, the knowledge you achieved from your college education will become beneficial in plenty of ways.

Over the last few years of high school I feel like I changed in a positive way because in the beginning of my freshmen year of high school, I didn’t really think of how much my grades would affect my chances of graduating and going to college. I didn’t think I would make it this far and it didn’t matter to me because dropping out and getting a GED seemed like an easy way out for me at the time. But I realized that life could be hard out there. If you can just finish school, work on getting your diploma and maybe go to college and the real world and all you’ll have is GED that gets you little job opportunities when study for what you’d want to do for a career. Every time I felt discouraged, I told my teachers “Hey, I don’t think I can do this. I give up”. They made sure I got my work turned in on time to my class, because those teachers cared about my education, and at the end of the day when school is over and I’m going home, I think about all the homework I have to do and tests I have to study for.

During high school a person typically meets a variety of new people. During my high school experience, I had the chance to meet a guy by the name Justin Okel. I first met Justin in middle school where we remained acquaintances for the next many years. I never really knew him. I had always thought he was the average kid in a happy middle class family. He never really gave anyone a reason not to believe that either. It wasn 't until midway through high school that I realized I didn 't even know him or his family at all. Over the past couple years I have been able to develop a great relationship with him as I began to know the real side of him that no one else really knew until recently. Justin suffered extremely harsh circumstances during the years leading up to graduation. He was mentally abused, put on probation, and kicked out of his house; forced to graduate high school, and start College completely on his own. I had the opportunity to get in touch with him so he could share some of his story.

As a senior in high school, at Lincoln Academy, I plan to attend the University of Maine at Farmington for a 4-year bachelor 's degree in elementary education with a minor in psychology. I chose the University of Maine at Farmington because I want to be a teacher and as most people know Farmington offers an amazing education program. After college I want to join the Peace Corps and teach in other countries around the world.

I hope I 'm not the only one who notices the increasing disinterest in education in my school. Perhaps, I 'm simply overreacting to its inevitability. Maybe it 's the brief conversations containing absurd amounts of grammatical errors and profanity that I often hear throughout the hallways, or the numerous students who admit to not caring about school that have led me to this conclusion: The majority of teenagers have lost interest in school as a source of learning.