Jackson 1

Theodore Jackson
Jeffrey Nall
3 August 2016
HUM 2020
Self-Examination Paper
Having an established view or belief on the humanities, education, meaning of life, love,
happiness, the sacred, dignity and ethics, the art, popular culture, and our humanity is what
makes a person their own. People learn and develop themselves through these topics in everyday
life. My present values, beliefs, commitments and or/actions on these subjects are what makes
me the person I am today, and the person I choose to become. I cherish my values and I stand up
for them as one should stand up for what they believe in. No country would progress without
having to defend your case or opinion.
I believe education should be the forefront of our focus as a country; education is what
has shaped the current generations and will continue to shape the generations to come. How we
educate our children will also determine how this country will act, operate, and be perceived in
the coming years. While there are many issues with our current educational system, I still
believe we are doing a great job educating our youth. These students are driving into the
workforce and are coming out with most of the skills they need to function in the real world.
While they are not fully equipped, much of what they need after graduation will only come with
experience in the workforce.

Jackson 2
Personally, I think that a large issue with education is not the way it is presented, but the
way it is perceived. As a former high school student, I know what it was like to sit through six,
seven, or eight classes every day. Many kids are terribly bored and dont pay very much
attention at all. I know for certain because I was this very child. But, imagine what would
happen in our world if every student took their education seriously; our country would be
smarter, more productive, and completely revolutionized. The advancements we would make in
each and every field would be astonishing. So, it is for this purpose I completely agree with
Adrienne Rich. Students need not to be showing up at school to receive an education, but to
claim an education. In the real world nothing is given, why should education be any different?
The only way for you to be the best version of yourself is by taking your education seriously and
making what you want out of it. If you do everything youre supposed to in school, I firmly
believe you will be able to do anything you want with the right amount of hard work and
diligence.
Education is also not something that should only be done in school. From the time you
were born, you have been learning, whether it be in school, at home with parents, siblings, and
family, or even with friends. Your brain never stops acquiring knowledge because that is just our
human nature. So why is it that students stop trying to learn after graduation? Many students
grab their diploma and never pick up another book, never read another article, and never
experience another new thing. This is truly a shame because I feel that while the bulk of my
education has come from an educational institution, I learn more on my own now than I do in my
collegiate classes. This is by no means a disrespectful conjecture towards my teachers, but rather
the fact that I am enamored by all that I can research and learn at the click of a button. I

Jackson 3
constantly read articles, books, and even watch movies on the subjects I am fascinated by.
Education is a beautiful thing, and no one can take it away from you.
I also attribute this lack of interest in learning to the fact that many young people fresh off
the educational system havent found their passion yet. That is absolutely normal and is
perfectly acceptable. No one should tell you that you need to figure out what you want to do
with your life at such a young age. The thing many students dont understand though, is the fact
that their passion and what theyre going to be spending the rest of their life doing is not just
going to walk up to them and smack them in the face. This takes much time to figure out, but it
also takes hard work and diligence. Students should be going out and finding what theyre
passionate about. Many students just watch their lives pass by and work menial jobs until that
passion comes, if it ever comes. Young people cannot expect to find their passion by only doing
this. They need to go out and create new experiences and memories, volunteer at an office that
might show some potential, or even just type in something they find interesting into Google and
learn more. That is a large part of how I grow as a person each and every day. I constantly
research about things that I am passionate about such as music. While I was very lucky to have
found my passion at the young age of 14, that doesnt mean I dont try to learn everything I can
about it each and every day. I am constantly reading and listening to musical (percussion) blogs,
books, movies, videos, articles, and magazines every day. Once you find your passion you never
stop learning about it. This is the only way you grow. Students need to go out and claim what
theyre passionate about, the same way they should be claiming an education while in school.
On a side note, I really enjoyed learning about Howard Gardners Theory of Multiple
Intelligences. It even taught me a lot about myself. All throughout middle school I thought there
were only three types of learners: kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. I thought this because it was

Jackson 4
the only thing they taught me in middle school. Once I got to high school I realized that this idea
was quite silly. There is no way that seven billion people on the planet can be categorized into
threes. It just doesnt work that way, we all come from different backgrounds with different
experiences, thus making us all very different. I think Gardners interpretation of this is much
more well received that the previous theory given to the public. It seems that he is showing us
the nine ways in which people might function. This is a much better interpretation of the people
around us and how we function in society. Some people are very strong in mathematics, while
some people are strong in the arts. It shows that we are all very different and that is a good thing.
I would even argue that there many more than just nine ways to categorize people, which would
still be considered quite broad.
Reading about this theory can really help you in everyday life. If you know how you
function as an individual, you should apply it to everything you do. If you need to prepare a
presentation for work and youre not the best speaker but read very well, type up your
presentation and practice reading out loud to an audience. No one can do everything perfectly,
so as varying individuals we should ask ourselves what we need to do in order to be successful.
If you are a tennis player and youre not a natural at the sport, find a way that you can will
yourself to get better. Trial and error is my motto and I know by now the things that work for me
and the things that dont. For instance, right before I began writing this paper I knew that I
needed to find a quiet space or I wouldnt be as productive. I also knew that I am not the best
multitasker and therefore cannot listen to music and write at the same time. Find out how you
best function each and every day and in just a short amount of time you will be able to maximize
your potential and become the best version of yourself.

Jackson 5
Through this course, the way I feel about education has not been altered in the slightest,
but I do feel that now I am able to better equip myself in a defense on how I feel about this topic.
I learned about so many points of views that I found both interesting and important and they
have thus influenced my views and made them stronger. Education is such an important resource
we are granted in this country; it is a right that many countries do not have. I think it is
extremely important to further yourself and become the person you want to be in the future. Im
very grateful for all that I have learned in this course and it has educated me, making me grow as
a person. This is exactly what we should strive for in life.