Our Chance by Aliza

Our Chance by Aliza - July 2022 Scholarship Essay

In ten years' time, I hope to see a widespread change in education. The education system in the United States now may seem like it is fine since we do have those that are educated and seemingly doing well we are having an issue when it comes to the public school system. I hope that for the public school system we begin to see a change in what is taught. The low-income neighborhoods are often pushed to the side and allow for those in their school system to be left to the side for their hope in education to burn out. I would hope this would change in the next few years in a post-COVID world. There should be a passion back in education that allows students to learn at a pace understandable to them and focus on actually leaving no child behind this time.

Another change I would love to see is the school system actually giving life lessons that are useful. Giving open access to education like budgeting, learning how to rent, learning your rights and when you are able to use them, what taxes are and how filing works, learning how to stay safe while using the internet, learning how to apply to jobs, how to create your resume and so much more. There are so many life lessons that should be taught to the children that we are bringing up that parents can get wrong that should be a part of our curriculum. Even lessons like how to apply to college and scholarships such as this one should be important. Lots of students can not tell you the differences between scholarships, grants, or loans. These are important life lessons for those students who do want to proceed into college that they should be offered. We should also have more open information on trades and life skills and why they are important and why the people who do those jobs are important. Allowing students to see the potential of different pathways will make more people open to doing something with their lives and probably lower some of our poverty and homeless rates.

Another big change I would like to see in the school system is an increase in school funding. An increase in low-income school funding will allow for the rate of dropouts to lower. Giving those in lower-income neighborhoods a chance for a way out besides having to make it in sports and focusing on giving these students a chance at a better well-rounded education will encourage more education to be passed down. We have seen how better education has helped those in other countries and we are slowly but surely following in their leads in an attempt to improve what our education is capable of doing for our population. We have seen states like California focus on getting rid of the SATs and the ACTs to focus more on ensuring students are receiving their education and not memorizing these things just to pass these tests. In the next couple of years, we will see more states follow in California's footsteps allowing for a new education system to take root.