What Is Your Education For?

What comes first in your mind when you think of your education? Education, right? Education has its own inherent value and even though we also need diplomas to get jobs and have a career, we don’t want to ask the purpose for which we get an education. I just realized that in order to tackle the challenges faced by educated people, we must really ask the question of purpose behind getting education.

June, 2015. The journey of my life has flipped to a new page. I started interning at Stony Brook Child Care Service, working with children ranging from 3 month to 3 years old and having considered them as infants prior to working with them  however, I consider them as independent and intelligent individuals. Every single one of them has passion towards something!

Nathan, a two years old boy, would come in the classroom every single morning to ask to play with cars and traffic signs. Why? because he said that he want to be a truck driver when he grows up. Would the teachers let him play with cars and traffic signs? YES! We believe children deserve to play with things that interest them. And we are surprised that a two-year-old boy has come to the point that he understands all the traffic signs already.His passion makes the difference.

There is another story that one of my colleagues told me. A toddler’s teacher did an activity in her class by hiding toys in the sand box and asking her students to dig those toys out of the sand box. Almost twenty years later, one of her students returned as a successful archaeologist. The student told her that his dream of being an archaeologist started when he did that activity of digging things out of the sandbox. Such is the life-changing power of educational activities when you work with children.

Seeing those children dreaming about what they want to do when they grow up, I started thinking what was my dream when I was a child. I don’t remember. But I do remember when my mother told me that I should be an accountant, I said No, I want to be a psychologist. I was so passionate that I was dare to say no to my mother who has always been my idol. As of now, being a senior in college with a psychology major, I struggle sometimes, honestly. Was I right to follow my passion? Will I be able to find a job when I graduate? What does my education mean to me?

The article “Intellectual Entrepreneurship, A vision for graduate Education” answered some of my questions. Intellectual entrepreneurship is a concept behind a university-wide program in the graduate school of  UT at Austin. This program follows the philosophy that intellectual work is not limited to the academy, and entrepreneurship is not limited to business. It teaches students how to be a “citizen-scholars”.

So what is a “Citizen-scholars”? “Citizen-scholars” are ones who have vision and courage to discover. It is never about simply performing your jobs, it is about acknowledging what is important to you both professionally and personally. That is while you are making conscious choices, do not forget your passion! Would this be easy? No! So be sure you have courage while you exploring.

“Citizen-scholars” also take responsibility for acquiring the knowledge and tools required to bring their vision to fruition.

Last but not least, “citizen-scholars” do integrative and take integrative action. Instead of thinking your research would benefit scholars in a discipline who read the academic journals, think broad! As “citizen-scholars”, one should think of his or her research that matters to the community.

This article really made me thinking. Around the world, there are lots of children in low-income family do not receive proper early childhood education, however, early childhood education is critical. As I indicated in the beginning, early childhood can have huge impact on later life, not only on academic aspect, but also on personality wise. It can be the very first step of becoming a citizen-scholar.

Let all start the journey of becoming a “citizen-scholar”. Remember, do not forget what you really are, what your passion is while you are on the way! It is never the end when you receive your degree, it is only the start!