What Does It Mean To Be An Educated Person - Coursework Example

What does it mean to be an educated person? Education has become one of the basic necessities of life. To earn a better livelihood in today’s world one really needs education. Similarly as oxygen is the basic element for survival, education is also a basic component for survival. Educated person is not one who has a degree but is the one whose horizons are broaden and visions are clearer. He is the one who has sophistication in his actions, etiquettes in his behavior, humbleness in his speech, purity in his dreams and versatility in his personality. Education polishes the person inside out but it is totally up to the person whether to get polished or demolished. Education does not ruin a person but a person ruins his education by not utilizing his skills and abilities. He needs to create his identity by proving himself educated in the eyes of the world. Success comes to those who endeavors and struggles hard. According to Oxford Dictionary Education is “a process of teaching, training, and learning, especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge and develop skills”. The institutes of school and colleges are not necessary to call someone an educated person in my belief. Education can rather be learned from any particular source which can come from an individual or a group of persons. On the other hand Merriam Webster defines education as “the action or process of educating or of being educated also : a stage of such a process”. I believe that Merriam Webster defines education in a better way because education is rather taken as a process here which can be achieved from anywhere (Webster 2003; Allen et al 1990). Everyone goes to university and earns a degree but educated ones are only those who learn something and use their knowledge. Education has become the backbone of every society and especially everywhere in the world the competition of getting quality education is intense. Youngsters are running here forth to get the best of education and to compete in this technologically advanced world. Competition is more intense in rural areas than urban areas in attaining good grades because the students there knows well that whoever will get a scholarship can further afford to study otherwise rest of them have to either stop studying or get admitted into some infamous, small or not up to the mark college or university. Whereas, in urban areas the competition is not only just about attaining the good grades but also about studying in a prestigious and well known college or university. They consider it as their status symbol to get qualified from a famous university. Mostly students take education for granted and show reluctance towards their studies. They are always indulged in bunking classes, involving in some notorious activities, getting suspension, and not completing their homework. Life is a joke for them and they are not serious about their future. Hence, they suffer in the end when they are not left with any option and have to start off everything from the beginning in order to compete with the educated ones. It takes entire life to become successful but youngsters think that success comes with a blink of an eye (Kapoor; Naomi; Ozieh). Education opens one’s mind and widens his vision. He interacts with so many different people who belong to different culture, tradition, race, religion and areas. People learn a lot during their time in schools and colleges but once they are graduated and done with their degree, it’s the time to show the application of their LEARNED knowledge. Ignorance is the curse for a society and hence, every country in the world is striving hard to make it developed by education and success. It is believed that success comes to those who are educated but in actual educated people struggle hard for success. Education enlightens the knowledge of the person. This globe consists of many challenging and major social problems and an educated person should use his education as a tool to aware people about how to raise their voice for their basic rights and inform them about their civic sense. Everybody in school learns a lot about the prevailing alarming issues but very few use their knowledge to diminish them from the society. Most of them forget these things at very initial stages once they are done with their exams or passed out because for them education is just to earn good grades or to fulfill the formality of being educated to their parents. Education opens so many fields for them to opt and give a chance to explore the world according to their vision (Adedeji; Peacocks; Miller 2000). Education teaches the difference between the good and bad and gives a sense of responsibility towards the society and people living in it. Literacy rate is increasing and there are many graduates passing every year. Competition is tough amongst them but what makes them successful is the confidence. Confidence is a ladder to success and a symbol of educated person. If he is confident about his education and aims then no one can stop him from stepping on the top level of the ladder. If the confidence of an educated person shatters then he cannot fight the world and cannot make the true change neither in himself nor in the world. Educated person should transfer his requisite intelligence in helping others and tries to wipe away the germs of ignorance which is still present today in few areas of the world. The knowledge is a key to success and sharing the knowledge with others make the idle mind boggles over something creative and innovative (Miller 2000). Parents give moral values to children but once they are admitted in the schools and colleges those moral values are either being polished or demolished. It’s the intellectual level of a person to sense things either they are right or wrong. But parents always expect their children to fulfill their dreams and turn out to be the person they have ever dreamt of. The need of importance of education should be feed in children minds so that when they grow young they should be familiar with the purpose of education. Here comes the fault of the parents as they should not pamper their children with so many luxuries and royalties that they forget they have a life ahead and life is not a bed of roses and can be twisted with any hurdle. Everything in the world is perishable and nothing is permanent and sustainable. It should be feed in their minds from childhood that they have to earn their sustenance and parents will not support them in future or maybe conditions do not remain same all the time. Time changes and bring about many drastic revolutions (Fernandes; Miller 2000). Presently, many educated people are seen holding a degree and roaming every nook and corner to find a perfect job for themselves. But most of them only have a degree with no specialized skills and abilities. Nowadays, the criterion has been set to have good skills and abilities to apply for a perfect job. Everybody has set some priorities in their life and searching for a perfect job is the first priority for every fresh graduate. Living a standardized livelihood is dream of everybody but it seems difficult for them to fulfill. There comes some positive traits along with some negative. It totally depends on the person either in which way he will be going to utilize his education: right or wrong way? Obsession is another pre-requisite of an educated person. This obsession is about utilizing the skills and abilities. Passion is also included the list of traits of an educated person. The true picture of an educated person is reflected once he has been graduated and holds a degree. He thinks his degree is a shortcut to his success but education is not only the degree but it is awareness and sense of responsibility which he has derived from his qualification, to tackle the world. This passion is not inborn in anybody it has to be risen out of everybody so that they start struggling from initial stages that is from school till their job. Every year this fire of passion should be fuelled up so, when in the end they step up to search for a job they are with the extreme passion to find it any cost and to proof their skills more confidently. Their forte should be do it now or never else. The world is turning into a global village and people are highly dependent on technology. The basic education is almost ruining due to dependency on laptops. All the researches, basic calculations and problem solving, are all have been copy pasted from the internet. Youngsters do their all assignments with the help of the internet. Educated person in real term is the one who is well informed and is not dependent on the technology. He may use the internet sometimes for help but prefers to work on his own and have potential to accomplish all his work without any assistance. It is not about schooling and degree but it is about what one has learnt through his mistakes from all his institution. Degree shows the qualification but one’s knowledge and traits describes his education well. No one remembers the basics of schooling, even the easiest and slightest mathematical sum confuses a PhD degree holder but his learned knowledge and skills makes his professional life easier. Learning never ends, each day one learns a new thing either by his mistake, from his colleague, sometimes from children, surroundings and etc. Researchers, scientist, mathematician, physicians, all kept on inventing new theories and formulae but never gave up just because they always learned something new from their old work. With the passage of time they kept on formulating newer and better theories which explains the matter more clearly (Fernandes; Miller 2000; Allen et al 1990). Time waits for none and once it has flown away then it did not turn back and takes away everything one has. So, one has to run with time to compete with the world without stopping for even once. If one fell down then the stumped of the competitor coming behind won’t let one get up. It will injure one so badly that those wounds will take a lot of time to cure. This should be the philosophy of every educated person and should follow and remember it every time the problem befalls him. This is the real sign of an educated person and they should set it as their agenda to proof themselves. Never give up too early, everything takes time. Be patient and calm in practical field because the result of this patience always results in something better. If one tries to achieve everything in haste then he will definitely end up with a mess. One should have faith in his abilities and education. “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” (Lintz 2003). References: Top of Form Merriam-Webster, Inc. (2003). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. Springfield, Mass: Merriam-Webster, Inc. Top of Form Allen, R. E., Fowler, H. W., & Fowler, F. G. (1990). The Concise Oxford dictionary of current English. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form What does it mean to be a well educated person? By Hodgson Noami Good Education is a Basic Need by Arvind Kapoor The Essence of Education by Micheal E Ozieh http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Essence-of-Education&id=6410103 Importance of Education by Adewale Adedeji http://ezinearticles.com/?Importance-of-Education&id=5883427 Why is education Necessary? By Anna Peacocks http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-is-Education-Necessary?&id=4110184 Top of Form Miller, J. P. (2000). Education and the soul: Toward a spiritual curriculum. Albany: State University of New York Press. Bottom of Form Importance of Education in the Present Age by Kathy Fernandes http://ezinearticles.com/?Importance-of-Education-in-the-Present-Age&id=6012191 Top of Form Lintz, R. K. (2003). Leadership in our society. Haverford, PA: Infinity Pub..com. Bottom of Form Believe in yourself quotes. http://inspirationalquote.blogspot.com/2006/08/quotes-on-believing-in-yourself.html (“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”) By Norman Vincent Peale, author Read More