"Governments that say they believe so much in the importance of higher education and further learning then why increase education fees every single year".
Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer is about the death of Christopher Johnson McCandless who turned up dead in Alaska in April of 1992. Chris grew up in an upper middleclass home with his parents and sister, Walt, Billie and Carrine. From a young age Chris was different than other kids he tried to excel in everything he did. He played instruments, liked hiking, and had a thing for helping out others. He was a great son and student but had trouble being told what to do. Chris did not want to attend college. He thought it was useless but attended just to please his parents. He attended Emory University but as soon as he graduated he cut all ties with his family. Chris decided to travel and create his own adventures. He did this for two years, the last great odyssey he wanted to achieve was to walk into Alaska and live off the land with the least supplies possible. This journey turned out to be fatal and Chris did not make out alive. In this book the author is trying to have an insight on why Chris decide to do this and why did he disappear from his family. Family members and friends he made along his trips are interviewed. They try to help the reader know who Chris really was. Christopher Johnson McCandless impacted many people’s life.
ThePassion Project is a film created by students in Chabot
College. In the film they discuss their opinions on passion. They talk about
what passion means, what their passion is individually. They talk about the
hardships and obstacles on achieving your dreams. They discuss how school plays
a major role in finding yourself. Sometimes teachers themselves fall in a
routine and forget the reason why they became a teacher. I do believe a teacher
should inspire their students to explore and find a passion. They say how it's
confusing at first to know what you like. I can relate with almost everything
every student was talking about. I believe passion is something we set aside
and most often forget. It's hard to follow your passion when you have to
prioritize your obligations in other aspects of your life. I think the older
you get the more you find yourself and you see your life passing by, so you
remember your aspirations again. This film comforts me in knowing that I'm not
the only one that has put my passions on hold. Many students are going through
the same experiences but we just don't know about it because we are too busy
with our own personal lives. This film shows me that I should be more engaged
in school and community.
In this paper I will be starting off by comparing privilege and passion. By comparing these two we will see if privilege actually hinders or helps with one pursuing their passion. Then how privilege plays a role in education and what advantages a privileged person receives. After I will be discussing how students in rural areas perceive education and what are some of the challenges they have to go through. After all is said and done what we all as students are looking for is success, but what really success is. In conclusion I will analyze what helps me succeed to achieve educational goals and what prevents me from succeeding.
Privilege is an unearned right that someone has, most preferably born with it. Passion is something you feel an immense love for. The relationship between privilege and passion is that everyone is born with both. Passion is a feeling therefore nobody can give it to us or take it away. Passion is an amazing privilege that no matter your sexuality, race, gender or class can get in the way of it. Most of the time passions can be the simplest things. People have the right to choose, to explore, to pursue and accomplish what makes them truly happy. In The Passion Project, Karina a student says, "I think I'm passionate about a lot of different things. I'm passionate about writing, I'm passionate about education, I'm passionate about dance, I'm passionate about art." People have the ability to choose what their passion is and that is the relationship between privilege and passion. You don't even have to be good at something for it to be your passion as long as you feel a strong emotion towards it, it is okay. I think that you can have endless possibilities on what you love and it's great that anybody is entitled to it. Everyone have the privilege to follow their passion it all depends on you to find it and pursue it.
A person born into a
privileged class can have advantage. Born into upper middle class has its
perks. One great benefit is having an amazing education. Upper middle class
schools have money for extra curriculums that public schools are not able to
afford. Children in upper middle class are able to explore different things
becoming knowledgeable and intelligent. The author explains Chris’ childhood
and how “after receiving a high score on standardized test, Chris was placed in
an accelerated program for gifted students”. Not all public schools offer
programs for accelerated students. Sometimes kids that are gifted have to stay
in a class which is too slow and I think it can affect a gifted student.
Instead of helping a gifted student progress his knowledge he is left behind
and is never able to fully expand his education. Upper middle class parents are
able to afford sending their kids to college. They expect their children to
succeed and they know their children’s education will not stop in high school.
When Chris tells his parents he does not want to attend to college they did not
want to hear it. His dad says,” A college degree is not something we don’t take
lightly, OK, and we worked hard not to be able to afford to send our kids to
good schools”. They had the luxury to send their kids off to school and
encouraged their kid to go to school. My parents sort of encouraged me to
continue college but they said with at least graduating high school it would be
enough. Even if you are privileged being born into upper middle class doesn’t
mean you are necessarily happy. In this case Chris seemed not to care about
money, class or race; he wanted to follow his passion.
The passion people have for the wilderness can
be bizarre. It’s like the stillness and emptiness of the wild fulfills
them. Many upper middle class probably
don’t support this passion because being in the wild means to disengage from
all materialistic things. The passion Chris had for the wilderness “in a sense,
was too powerful to be quenched by human contact”. He liked time to himself
where he could read and reflect; the wilderness offered him that. I think we all can relate with him because
who doesn’t like alone time, the thing with Chris was that he liked being alone
for extended periods of time. When passion makes a person extremely happy it
makes them want to share that happiness.
The conviction you feel for something makes you want every one you
encounter experience the same emotions.
Chris shared his passion with Ron Franz in a letter reading, “The very
basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of
life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no
greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a
new and different sun.” Even though Franz was already an old man Chris wanted
him to experience the wild. He knew Franz was a man that was living a daily
routine but he wanted him to experience the wild at least once. Many can’t
comprehend Chis’ passion for the wilderness because it was much more like an
obsession, but if anything made you tremendously happy wouldn’t you be obsessed
with it too?
Children that grow in urban areas go through incidents in their daily life that a normal person would never have to endure. They see many deaths and homicides in a year. A child can lose someone close in their live and no one really cares. Kids are expected to go to school and not talk about their life problems. School wants kids to care about excelling in state tests and what not, but their basic needs are not being met. I think many kids nowadays have many problems than any time before that school comes irrelevant to their life. Due to personal or family problems kids have to grow up fast. When kids don’t have a role model that has actually succeeded to going to college it makes it hard to believe in themselves. I think in urban areas children’s parents have to work a lot or are too busy to show affection to their children. The feeling of not being accepted or loved might make the child’s confidence level be low. I think low confidence can be a problem in school because a shy kid won’t ask questions or ask for help. The teachers should be welcoming and in engage with each student. Why should student care about learning if the one teaching shows no care for the student? Andrade says,“Urban schools are not failing. They are doing what they are design to do. Ifthey weren’t; if they were really failing then we would be doing thingsradically different”. He believes the system is aware that students are disengaged in school but yet do not do anything to change the curriculum. It seems schools are preparing young people to be failures because that’s what they were born into. I think the reason kids are not graduating is because the government doesn’t want the minorities that live in urban areas to be educated. Students in urban areas have to face more challenges than those in privileged areas.
Jeff Bliss is a student that attended Duncanville High School that voiced his frustration when he felt his history teacher was not teaching the class adequately. He had dropped out of high and after a year of dropping out he realized the importance of an education and returned. I think many kids nowadays drop out because school just doesn’t interest them at all. They see no point on it and if teachers don’t engage with them their choice on leaving school becomes pleasant. Students lack motivation because they go through the same routine every day. They need something that will spark their interest and if teachers would engage in conversations they would know what it is that drives their students. What Jeff says not all students learn the same is true. There are some students that learn by visuals, auditory, or kinesthetic and the teacher should be able to tell what each student is. In his rant with his teacher he tells her, “You want kids to come in your class? You want them to get excited for this? You want a kid to change and start doing better? You got to touch his frickin’ heart.” I see nothing wrong with what he did or say. He never lost his temper he spoke in a stern voice I think to make his point across to the teacher. I don’t think he was trying to disrespect the teacher he was just fed up with going to class and not actually learning anything valuable. This video going viral I think is great because it opens the eyes of adults that some students are serious and are eager to learn. It also shows students that sometimes you have to stand up and not be afraid. It is YOUR education and it is YOUR future if you don’t fight for it who will?
Attending college can
be challenging at times, obstacles present themselves in the most inconvenient
times. Even though I am currently in school there have been times where I just
don’t feel like I can keep going. One deal breaker that I think many go through
is financial difficulties. Even though there is financial aid not everyone
qualifies. Most often as students we are not aware of all the different kinds
of financial help the school offers. I think classes are expensive especially
if you are a full time student. Not only are the classes expensive but the
material used in class are also. Due to my parents’ income and mine I wasn’t
able to receive financial aid. That’s one of the reasons I wouldn’t go to
school full time since I had to pay out of pocket. I dreaded attending school
because of its cost. Last semester when I got into my math class the teacher
told us the materials we needed for class. I was shocked that I had to buy a
$130 calculator plus the $100 textbook. In all honesty I was so angry I wanted
to just drop the class but I didn’t. I just think it’s ridiculous that I had to
pay for something I will never use again. It’s difficult at times because you have to put other financial things on hold to get an education.
Another potential deal
breaker would be my family’s opinion on me attending school. Like always
parents want you to succeed in all but I think cultural ideas seem to be
stronger than education. As a Latina family is extremely important. Family can
either support your dreams or crush them. Sometimes my mom’s comments
discourage me. In my culture girls usually end up married or knocked up by 18.
If you are 21 or older without haven’t been in any of those situations is like
there’s something wrong with you. If you choose to go to school and say I don’t
want to start my own family until I’m done with my career family are confused.
Family members make comments like “oh time is ticking”, “no man will want you
when you’re old”, and “you don’t want to have kids at an old age”. Comments
like these can really get into your head and make you think twice. It’s like
family is over everything even more important than an education.
As far as dealing with
financial deal breakers the best way to deal with it is to be informed. Visit
the financial aid office and to get all the information needed. It would be
great if the options for financial aid help were more clear and understandable.
For the opinions of family member the only thing is to ignore it. Not everyone
is destined to do the same thing in life. I want to better myself so if ever do
decide to start my own family I have something great to offer. Like the quote
“without sacrifice there’s no victory” says you have to give up something to
gain something even better in the long run.
We are passionate and pursue an education to become successful in the future. Success is the feeling of being satisfied in certain areas of your life. Success is like passion because success brings happiness into your life. I think you are the only one that can define if you are successful in life and no one else’s opinion really matters. Many think that being successful is about having money to blow or owning expensive things. I think you can be successful in some parts of your life and other parts may still no be yet fulfilled. “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome,” by Booker T. Washington. To become successful does not come easy most of the times you have to work hard for it and sometimes have to fail before achieving you goal.
Another way to be
successful is if you have positive relationships. It is hard to succeed in anything
on your own. It usually takes a team to support and encourage you to follow
your passion when you are trying to give up. Positive relationships also at
times help you reach your goals quicker. Chris McCandless would have never made
it to Alaska if it wasn’t for all the people he met along the way. If it wasn’t
for all the people that gave him rides when hitchhiked he would have never
gotten to Alaska. Also as an example Jan and Bob were a positive relationships
Chris had. They encouraged Chris to let his family know he was going to Alaska.
Positive friends will give advice that you don’t want to hear. Good friends
care about your wellbeing mentally emotionally and physically. Sometimes you
need someone to check you and tell you when you’re doing something imprudent
and I think a couple of people told Chris but they still supported his
decision.
Family is what helps
many succeed. Regardless if you have a bad or good relationship family is
always there for you. Even if they don’t support your goals they don’t abandon
you. Family can help you in many ways being financially or mentally. In Chris’
case even though he was angry at his parents, they still supported him. When he
graduated his parents expressed, “their desire to buy him a new car as a
graduation present and offer to pay for law school if there wasn’t enough money
left in his college fund to cover it” (Into the Wild). I think was a more than
nice gesture from his parent because not all of us have the luxury of our
parents being able to afford things like that. Chris’ parents by offering him
the car and paying his college where trying to help him succeed educationally.
They knew he liked helping people and tried to encourage him to become a lawyer
so he could fulfill his dream but Chris had other ideas. I think his parents
were mad at first because he didn’t continue his education but regardless he
was their son and loved him.
Money is an extreme
factor that prevents many from succeeding. Like many say money makes the world
go around, it is sad but true. Money can prevent someone achieving their goals
and passion. Even though being successful is not all materialistic it is a
necessity for many things. For many people money is essential to be
educationally successful. Not everyone receives financial aid and need to pay
for their education out of pocket. Many get discourage to have to spend money
in education when they need money to pay bills therefore forcing them not to
fully succeed in life. Karina says, “I need to survive so I need to get enough
money enough money so first they think about that. They are thinking about
surviving—and passion—it could come after I guess” (Passion Project). Lack of
money can in the way of success. I’m not saying it’s impossible to reach your
goals if you don’t have money but it sure makes it difficult. People have to
work hard to be able to succeed. Chris “was holding a full time job, flipping
Quarter Pounders at McDonald’s “(Into the Wild). Even though Chris burned his
money at first I think he realized the need of money to survive if he ever
wanted to make it to Alaska. In the end money is just an obstacle that can be
overcome, with determination and motivation everything can become attainable.
