Education is Still Essential to Success

Education is Still Essential to Success

Education is indeed the key to success for most people. Almost all of the successful people one knows are educated. These include doctors, lawyers, politicians, and even athletes. People understand the value of education, and that is why they invest so much in it. A good education makes one better at problem-solving, thus setting him or her up for success. It also imbues one with the confidence and personality to impose their will on and dominate others. Institutions of higher education also provide excellent networking opportunities. For people who are not born in privilege, education is indeed the key to success.

Getting Educated

One of the most important things an education does is to elevate one’s level of thinking by provoking him or her to consider increasingly complex and nuanced problems (Bosman & Fernhaber, 2018). When one is in school, his or her mental engagement increases at a largely predictable pace. For example, there is a mountain of difference between high school education and elementary schooling. The higher one goes, the more complex things get, and the better he or she has to be. The result is that those who succeed in education are usually those who constantly learn how to elevate their thinking. The result is that educated people tend to be better than their uneducated peers in problem-solving, especially when it comes to new problems. Employers know this, and they will tend to favor those with a higher education qualification. The result is that one is not only more likely to get a job: he or she is also more likely to excel in it.

Profession

Secondly, education is still one of the best ways to get a profession. Professions are formal, and they provide most of the jobs in existence today. They are essential pillars of our economy with engineering, medicine, and other professions touching people’s lives every day. Most people do not know this, but even athletes have to get an education before they can truly turn their work into a profession. There are indeed other means, including apprenticeships, but in this day and age, there is really no substitute for a good education. It is especially the case in a world where automation is the norm, and the best-paying jobs are professional ones. Having a proper profession is one of the pathways to success, and students must understand that reality.

Networking

At least four senior officials in the Trump administration were classmates to and were brought into the administration by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. A good number of cabinet members and senior lawyers in the Obama administration also shared an alma mater with President Barrack Obama. The same has happened in almost every administration going back to America’s founding. The importance of this history lesson is that college is one of the best places to network. Institutions of higher learning bring together young people of similar intellect and interests. They provide an environment in which these young people have no choice but to create relationships with each other (Strayhor, 2018). The entities also give the students a chance to interact with already successful alumni. The result is that people who go to college often have the connections to find jobs, push through business ideas, and generally get a head start in life.

Exposure

It is said that he or she who has not traveled believes that his or her mother is the best cook in the world. The meaning is that one will usually have low standards if his or her outlook is limited. A narrow view of life lulls one into a sense of false security and saps the initiative out of most people. Exposure is often the thing that inspires ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things. Education offers human beings the chance to get inspired (Biesta, 2017). Young people read about and interact with people who have achieved extraordinary things around the world. They also get exposed to novel ways of thinking thanks to the diversity inherent in most colleges and universities. This exposure expands one’s perspective and makes it more likely that he or she will aspire to do something meaningful. In so doing, education serves humanity.

Confidence and Personality

Finally, a good education gives one the poise and personality one needs to succeed in most professions and careers. Evidence shows that people who know they have a good education tend to be more confident than their peers (Rasmussen & Nørgaard, 2018). They are more confident, more likely to speak up, and are not afraid to take a risk. This confidence makes it very likely that they will succeed in what they do. Personality, on the other hand, is more complex. A good education does imbue one with principles. For example, graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point live by a strict moral code even after they leave the facility and the military. This dedication to a code of ethics or set of principles tends to create a disciplined and focused individual. The combination results in a person who is very likely to succeed in whatever he or she does.

CounterPoint

Even though education has its purposes, the sad reality is that privilege is a much better guarantor of success. When one is economically and socially privileged, he or she will tend to have a stable life and a good education (Yong, 2014). His or her parents will afford the gadgets and tuition they need to succeed. Bill Gates got massive support from his father, as did Steve Jobs. The same was the case for Elon Musk, whose father was an engineer and thus able to feed his son’s growing interest in the field. All of the people mentioned above are undoubtedly talented and would have probably succeeded. However, it would be disingenuous to pretend that a child born in poverty in the inner city has the same opportunities as one who grows up in a comfortable suburb. Education does help, but privilege still determines success to a significant extent.

Conclusion

Education gives one the ability to think abstractly and thus confront old and new solutions from different angles. The ability to problem solve makes one very likely to succeed in both private and professional endeavors. The institutions also help their students develop networks that will serve them for the rest of their lives. The exposure is also excellent for success, while education remains the best way to become skilled at a profession. Education also gives one the confidence to take on challenges and the personality to dominate. Privilege remains a significant factor, but indeed, education remains the vaunted key to success for most people.

References

Biesta, G. (2017). The future of teacher education: Evidence, competence, or wisdom?. In A companion to research in teacher education (pp. 435-453). Springer, Singapore.

Bosman, L., & Fernhaber, S. (2018). Why Is the Entrepreneurial Mindset Important to Future Engineers?. In Teaching the Entrepreneurial Mindset to Engineers (pp. 15-20). Springer, Cham.

Rasmussen, S. H. R., & Nørgaard, A. S. (2018). When and why does education matter? Motivation and resource effects in political efficacy. European Journal of Political Research, 57(1), 24-46.

Strayhorn, T. L. (2018). College students’ sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students. Routledge.

Yong, E. (2014) On privilege and luck, or why success breeds success. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2014/04/28/on-privilege-and-luck-or-why-success-breeds-success/