Good Citizenship: The Purpose Of Education

After twelve years of required education, why do many people still spend thousands of dollars to continue to go to school? Many people in our world take free education for granted throughout their elementary, middle, and high school years, but people will still spend so much money on college. Why? Our mindset today for college is that we pay for college and come out with a job. We need to take certain courses and obtain certain grades. College is not simply for career and professional development instead it is an opportunity for personal development. Our investment in a college education speaks to the process of trusting our professors to teach us to be citizens that think critically and respect the differences of others. William Deresiewicz
As Eleanor Roosevelt argues in “Good Citizenship: The Purpose of Education,” we need to become the correct citizens for our society, citizens that will think critically on political and economic situations. Many will say that President Obama runs our country but we are actually the ones who run our country. We elected President Obama into office. We pay taxes to our government to work on projects and infrastructures; We are funding them. Thus, we have the responsibility to be the citizens that can assist the government into creating a better world for our future generations. As Eleanor Roosevelt stated, “Gradually from this study certain facts emerge. A nation must have leaders, men who have the power to see a little farther, to imagine a little better life than the present. But if this vision is to be fulfilled, it must also have a vast army of men and women capable of understanding and following these leaders intelligently” (Roosevelt). Like she said, society needs people with understanding and the intelligence to vote and to guide our future to success. That starts in college. College teaches us to think critically about situations and not just follow blindly on what people says. We must listen to our professors and other peers’ points,
We live in a world where jobs are important because that is how we will provide for our families in the future, but college is more than learning the necessities to become qualified for a career. College educates us to become critically thinking citizens that can help our world. In a college classroom, professors teach ideas and concepts but they teach it the way they see fit. They choose what they think should be taught to the students, and students will learn the information and provide their opinion on the concept. College focuses on applying the knowledge and not remembering it. College is not only a place for knowledge and skills that we need for our jobs, instead it is a process we all should go through to become critical thinkers who will not just see the surface of the situation but the problem as a whole. With this way of thinking, we will be able to solve issues completely in our society and create a bright future for our future