What Does it Mean to be Educated? (Opinion)
What does it mean to be educated? After dropping out three years ago, the idea of me being “educated’ and “smart” became a constant insecurity. And having a supportive circle, insecurities can turn into conversation. I’ve gotten various perspectives from friends and family on what it means to be educated. Over the last few years, I’ve met businessmen who hate and have never gone to college, I have met solid college students who are seemingly incompetent. Levels in between the two extremes can be endless, but in the thick of it all I developed my own stance. Oddly enough, dropping out was my first step in getting educated.
You must first get to know who you are before being competent in any aspect of life. Knowledge breeds confidence, and confidence breeds versatility. I had a lot of time on my own, away from any sort of schooling. I pushed myself to really understand who I was as a person, to then understand what person I wanted to be. For the first time in my life, I became educated in who Isaac William Joesph is. After that you can get a real grasp on your strengths and your weaknesses. What makes you feel good, what makes you upset.
Because of this, I became heavily eager in trying new things, sparking new interests and skills. For better or worse, I did it for the sake of learning something. In the middle of all this I discovered a new but familiar passion. Someone who was once a writer for sports articles, fell in love with the idea of storytelling and being involved with cinema. I always figured I would go back to college, but now I finally found the reason as to why.
After getting to know independent writers of all sorts, and researching those who work my dream jobs, I have become aware that the career doesn’t exactly call for a college certificate. But I think college is more than a piece of paper giving me permission to apply somewhere. It is just as much of an experience as anything else. Which brings to the constant repeating result in what it means to be educated. In whatever life path you choose, you must have the desire to master it.
I am a young man with my whole life ahead of me and my goal is simple, to be great at whatever I call myself. I desire to be a storyteller, a screenwriter, and eventually a director. I don’t know how to format a script and have never even touched a professional video camera. In a way, under my own definition of being “educated” one could say I simply am not quite there. But I am also a brother, a son, a future husband and father. Nobody can take away the efforts I’ve made already for my family because I desire to be the best. I’ve only come to college for the sake of being competent in the work I aim to be in. I’m eager to take a class related to the referenced professional cameras. I’m eager to be told how to express my stories through a script. I’m passionate about being here to get better at what I love and desire. That’s the purpose of higher education, right?
With the desire of being not a good, but great storyteller, I have become a sponge for my surroundings. Could I learn a great amount about movie making and script writing without going to college? Absolutely. But what would I learn about life? The college student route has become such a unique, yet relatable walk of life. An experience that I’ve enjoyed much more this time around compared to three years ago. That could be a story arc on its own.
Despite college being heavily mentioned, that is strictly my personal decision to make it part of the journey I am on. In fact, had I never dropped out the first time I would never have truly educated myself. Outside of school the most common measurement of education is if you’re good at what you do. Nobody is going to care if you know the name of every bone in your body if you are a roofer and are in fact a terrible one. What good am I if I get all this schooling done and still make bad movies?
The simple fact is that if you don’t know who you are then you aren’t educated. Untapped is the potential of your skills, your interests, or your values. Knowing yourself will help you find what you love to do. Loving what you do will make the hard work feel easy and rewarding. An educated man or woman will know where they stand and want to always be better the next day. That does not mean they dislike who they are, but have a stronger interest in finding room to improve. Falling in love with bettering your game no matter your age or tenure, by the end of it all, you’ll be remembered as a master of what you did, or a legend in who you were. Did I make this paper too meta? Maybe. Does it cut deeper than you asked for? Most likely. At the end of all this, one could say that I narrated education too closely to life in general. If you ask me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
-Isaac William Joesph
