Sophia

what we lack for looks we make up for it through make-up, right? we put all the best foundations, concealers, blushers, bronzers, etc. to cover up what we are not physically endowed with. we even go drastically beyond these temporary aids to a more permanent fix, plastic surgery. but when we don't match up much intellectually we end up saying, i didn't finish this or that, study in this school or that school. some even justify it like, i just am not smart enough or i am dull or slow. isn't that the complete manifestation of succumbing to intellectual mediocrity?

i simply cringe at the idea that most people, especially the younger ones, get satisfied with learning their abc's without even lifting a finger to form a word that makes sense. what i am trying to say is, people have been content at what they know. they do not hunger for more information because of lame reasons that do not even make sense at all. yes, most of the population of our country could not afford to buy books, go to prestigious educational institutions, or to even a loaf of bread for dinner. but why stop there? do we stop being ambitious and just be complacently chewing on what is handed to us? is it a sin to want more knowledge?

i pity the youth who have been throwing away their good opportunity of learning. they have been provided with much and yet they do not use these efficiently. i see many youngsters spending much time playing graphic video games when they could have opened an encyclopedia or a shakespeare novel. little girls who love to hang out at the mall after school hours checking out cute guys, when they could have made their homework or read something helpful online. no, i don't want to be a hypocrite by admitting that yes, i did slack in school and i regret doing so. whatever i lacked, im making up for it now by constantly feeding myself with information i think would benefit me and my future.

what i am trying to emphasize is that, education and knowledge aren't confined in the four walls of a dingy classroom. you can get it from everywhere! your newspaper, your book, movies, television, radio, more powerfully so, the internet! EVERYWHERE! we should not be content of what our teachers teach us, because they have a chance of getting facts wrong. i am a teacher and i still make mistakes, often even. we have so many opportunities of learning and yet we don't pay attention AT ALL because we justify it as if there are no other ways. there are ways if you want to find ways. don't let certain "limits" stop you from soaring above what you thought you could only achieve. it's preposterous! we can aim big still even when we think we are that low and tiny.

as an end to this, i'd like to quote a book we were assigned to read in High School, "We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill". this is from the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. limitations are only limitations when you let them stop you. we make excuses for ignorance because we put stops on our way. we make our socio-economic status a major stop to education and educators stop at giving the quality due to these people because of the loss of love for the service and gain of love for the money. i hope in my own little way i can help wake these people up. i hope they see that education is a two-way street, they teach you a little of what you need to know, and the rest is really up to you if you want to get deeper or be content with what you have.