by Joan Inong

Created on: May 01, 2009

Often, we think of school as mandatory, boring, and ineffectual. We cherish primary school days when we had little to think about in terms of academics, but then we also regret many secondary school memories that are unpleasant to us. This two-sided view of school shapes our decision to stay in school, but despite these double-edged views, staying in school is an important life experience.

People have different reasons and excuses for wanting to leave school. School is boring. They are learning about subjects they will never use again. School is expensive. School is no longer a good investment. There are more "efficient" ways one could be using one's time.

Though these may be true in a personal perspective, everybody should have an equal amount of "basic" learning. That is why people should strive to stay in school until they graduate high school. College is not necessary, but the basic foundations of knowledge should be known to everybody.

School offers people an experience that precludes what is going to be a life experience. That is why, when people are about to graduate from college, others tell them, "Real life outside of college is going to be different." The set of experiences that school offers is, in reality, very different than those experiences offered by "real life." School allows you to cultivate who you may later become; you learn how you make friends, what kind of friends you make, how you are when it comes to completing assignments, respecting authority, etc.

School is most importantly a learning experience. You gain knowledge in a setting that is "learning-friendly." You are learning from all directions; you learn socially, academically, sometimes politically, and sometimes economically. You learn about past histories of other peoples, you may learn about your own history, and you feel connected to humankind in general. Knowledge transgresses boundaries of time, space, and distance.

Those who do not like school will complain most of their lives and will want to leave school. But, those who are motivated enough to go through basic schooling will realize, at the end of it all, that it was all worth it. School will open up doors of opportunities that may not be available otherwise. Those who finish school also feel a sense of accomplishment. Throughout history, people have fought in order to gain more knowledge. It should be comforting for most people today that basic education is accessible. Taking advantage of it is another question.

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