"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." - Steve Jobs
I
have seen first-hand, the benefits of having a higher education. It
is in the way people treat you, respond to you, and are willing to
help you - because you somehow have this extra wisdom from enduring
four extra years of schooling. I witnessed this in the military when
my chain of command found out I held a Bachelor’s Degree. I was
immediately placed in a position of authority and leadership. I also
remember during my time serving in a squadron, when my higher chain
of command found out I held my degree, yet had enlisted. I was
brought into the Chief’s Mess for a meeting, and it was a moment
I'll never forget. When I walked into the room to report, it was
standing room only; the room was full of every Chief and Officer
within the command. During a meeting like this, it is usually just
you and your superior officer, but it seemed this time that all the
ranking officers wanted to hear my story! I was so nervous, to the
point where my bottom lip was quivering uncontrollably! It was in
this moment though, that I realized the power of higher education.
Since
returning to civilian life outside of the military, I have had
options regarding education at my disposal because of the G.I.Bill.
For the past 6 years, however, I would often say I would never return to
school, mostly due to fear of not thinking I was smart enough and it
wouldn’t be worth the time. I didn’t want to endure the pain of
more schooling, and the thought of giving years of my life to
studying and writing papers seemed like a waste. So I used these as
easy excuses not to pursue more education. I know what I am
passionate about and know what direction I want to spend my life
doing, but at the time, none of it seemed to include hanging another
degree on my wall.
It
wasn’t until I taught English as a second language (to three
Spanish-speaking adult women) in Belize that my eyes were opened and
heart softened to the value of education. Not only was I having fun,
but I was learning and growing right along with them! But more
importantly, I began to see that to most of the world outside of the
United States, the value of education can mean the difference between
life and death; it can mean the difference between extreme poverty
and providing for your family. I remember looking into my own life
and reexamining what I valued, or at least put value on. As an
“American”, I took education for granted. It is part of our
culture and something my parents encouraged me to pursue, so I did.
But what we need to realize, is that we can gain a wealth of
knowledge just to have knowledge, or we can gain wisdom and
understanding to that we can fulfill our purpose, passions, and
destiny to change the world. I have heard the saying that the
richest place in the world is the cemetery, because it is where all
the dreams, inventions, hopes, gifts and promises go to die, never
reaching their full potential. I don't want to leave anything on the
table when my tombstone is put in place.
So when I realized I was letting fear hold me back from reaching my full potential, I had a decision to make. I could either do what I felt God was leading me into, or I could continue to choose the easy way out and still
question what is next in my life. I began to explore my options of
graduate school and the use of my G.I. Bill. I learned I had more
benefits than I had initially thought. Doors began to open with favor
on my side. On May 28th, I got my acceptance letter into
Mount Mercy University’s Masters of Strategic Leadership! One of
my dreams is to be able to send children from around the world to
school, with hope to reach their full potential. Obtaining my Masters
through this program is the next step in obtaining that dream.
I've already started doing a little research, and here's what I've come up with so far. It seems that globally, education is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality, and it lays a foundation for sustained economic growth.
- In developing, low-income countries, every additional year of education can increase a person’s future income by an average of 10%.1
- Children who are born to educated mothers are less likely to be stunted or malnourished. Each additional year of maternal education also reduces the child mortality rate by 2%.2
- Another estimated 57 million children of primary school age and another 69 million children of lower secondary school age were still out of school.3
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1,
2: DoSomething.org;
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-education-around-world
Blog Writer: Travis Arment, Founder of Normal to Destiny LLC
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