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Haley Bell
Dr. Knepler
UNST Portland
9 October 2014
Place of Education
Most people of society believe that a college education is meant to educate the student so
they can go out in the world and obtain a meaning full job. A college education is the only way to
become a doctor, engineer, architect, etc. A college degree is needed for these jobs because that
degree ensures society that our high class workers know what they are doing. Although
professionals may have a high college degree does not ensure that they are educated. Education
is more than facts and memorization. Education is how we know how to interact and treat others.
The purpose of a college education is to keep society informed, teach the past for better or for
worse, and to keep people motivated.
A college education is necessary to keep the young people of society informed. While
teaching the young people of society new ways of doing things, this will also teach all sorts of
people new ways of doing things because the ways will spread. People can learn new things
every day. What is important about learning new things from college is that these new things will
be spread easily. When college students learn new things they feel smart and want to spread this
new known knowledge.
Along with keeping society informed, college educated people show different aspects on
the world. College students are taught things from school that they pass along with everyday
interactions with others. For example, a college student may learn a new way of speaking with

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others and spread this new technique with people in their work place. College education shows
how important diversity is in the world. People without a college education may not be able to
see how important diversity is like a college student can see it. A college student could say
diversity is important to express new ways of life and to spread culture among the world.
Someone without a college degree might not react the same way, only because they havent
experienced diversity before. Liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men upon their
word in order to transform it(Freire, 66). This quote shows how students gain knowledge and
feel needed to express their thoughts in order to transform others views.
A college education is necessary in order to teach the past. Whether or not the past is
good or bad, being an educated member of society means knowing where culture has come from
and how society has evolved. To be educated, one needs to know the past so that we can either
change it for future generations or keep things the same. Although students learn history in high
school, it is important that a college education also expresses major events in history. Knowing
where we have came from helps to know where we can go.
It is important to know where we come from because then we can relate better with
others. part of being an educated person is being able to interact well with others. To interact well
with others we need to have some sort of an understanding why people act the way they do.
Being educated helps us to know how to react in different situations. They can hold a
conversation with a high school dropout or a Nobel laureate, a child or a nursing- home resident,
a factory worker or a corporate president(Cronon, 3). By knowing history of a culture, place, or
group of people, people are educated and able to interact with people from all different

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backgrounds. Well educated people can do this because the understand the rules of interaction
based off the past.
Staying motivated is an essential part of a productive society. A productive society is
always growing and becoming better. When society has motivated members, society will have a
higher class economy. By encouraging students to attend college, the goal is to have young
people gain degrees in higher paying jobs. If we as society didn't encourage a higher education,
we would not have high skilled jobs such as doctors. Higher education enables society to
function because we need doctors, firefighters, police, etc. to have todays society. In other
words, higher education is a part of our culture.
Education keeps people motived because we are creatures always evolving. Education
enables people to grow intellectually therefore our culture evolves. Before cell phones, culture of
society was different than today. By students being motivated to attend college and learn skills in
innovation, todays culture has been changed by technology made by the highly motivated
people of society.
There are many ways to become an educated member of society. The most efficient way
to be educated is by a college education. By attending college, students learn facts about many
different subjects in school, this makes the student well rounded. As well as learning facts,
students learn how to abide by a hierarchy, this means to understand roles of authority. College
students more importantly learn the roles of society. Roles of society are taught by observing the
college environment as well as society as a whole. The purpose of a college education is to keep
society informed, teach the past for better or for worse, and to keep people motivated to become

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better. When students learn how to interact well in society and how to obtain a job, the purpose
of education has been fulfilled.

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Works Cited
""Only Connect" by William Cronon." - Classroom 2.0. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

Paulo Freire, Pedogogy of the Oppressed. Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos. New York: The
Bergman Seabury Press, 1968.

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