Getting a good education is arguably the most important aspect of everyone’s life. Where and what you chose to study impacts your life exponentially. The education you receive as a young adult determines what kind of life you will lead in the future. Although there is conventional education in a classroom setting following a strict curriculum, education also includes the things that cannot be taught by a teacher and you must figure out as you go along in life. This is a major flaw in all schools, they should not test students on memory but rather things that students will need in life.

Many classes especially at the high school level focus on students ability to memorize information that they will probably never see again in their life. Although learning about our nation’s history is important to help teach us about our future, knowing that Valeriano Weyler was a Cuban general that tried to stop a Cuban rebellion is probably never going to present itself again. Although it is important to exercise your brain and memorize material, school would be much more useful if it were less about memorizing and more about teaching material that is relevant in our lives. For example instead of learning about an irrelevant treaty in the 1800s we should be learning about new acts that actually affect our lives today. Instead of teaching us basic lessons in English, math and history and then teaching us the same things again the next year increasing difficulty they should teach us the basic skills and then teach us important things such as how to pay your bills and time management skills. At age 17, rapper, Tupac makes a good point, “They should be teaching you English, and how to understand double talk, politician’s double talk. Not teaching you English, Spanish and GERMAN… I can’t afford to pay my rent in America! How am I going to be able to go to Germany?” It’s important to learn the basics, but it’s equally as important to learn real life skills.

Colleges say that they are equal opportunity but in reality if there’s a kid from the inner city that doesn’t have enough money to pay for food vs. the kid coming from a rich family with plenty of money to donate to the school, chances are that rich kid will be accepted. Even though these two kids are equally as smart colleges are run like businesses and are only out to make money. The money colleges cost is extremely outrageous and make it nearly impossible for a lower class teen to get anywhere in life no matter how smart they are. Some ivy league universities such as Harvard and MIT have adopted the idea that the student must only pay 10% of the income from their parents. this helps the lower class become more equal. Unless you are genius level it is very difficult to get into those kinds of schools which again hurts the lower class. Even state schools offer the Abigail Adams Scholarship that gives you free tuition if you score well on your MCAS. Although this seems like a great deal tuition is costs nothing compared to the room and board and taxes that you still will need to pay. Although they can give out more scholarships this way, it is very deceiving. The American dream is to move up in your class level and be as successful as possible and as college prices increase it becomes harder and harder for people find a way to pay for a good education, and they are left with doing jobs that will never get them anywhere.

Although commuting to and from school cuts the cost down immensely, is commuting really as successful as boarding there? So much is gained by living on your own without the security of your parent or guardians with you. Getting the full college experience is a huge part of your education. Being on your own teaches you how to manage your time and be self-sufficient. Also living on your own without the protection of your family lets you find yourself without feeling like you need to act a certain way because of whom you are around. Many people don’t consider living away at college part of your education, but it is actually equally as important as what you learn in a classroom.

Education is not equal for everyone and college is very one sided when it comes to the social hierarchy. Just like learning your basic core classes it is just as useful to learn about things that are relevant to your actual life. Being able to function on your own without support of your family is also a key part of your education. Unconventional education is just as important as classroom education and there should be more of it at schools.