Analysis Essay on The Significance of Education

Everyone has some form of education whether it is college, high school, home school or being self taught. Education plays an important role in everyone’s life. Whether they graduate high school or not, some education is still attained. Education is one of the most significant things in life because without it we cannot function in society. Tara Westover is an American author who wrote Educated. She never went to public school because her father was opposed to it.  In “From Educated”, Tara Westover demonstrates the importance of an education by furthering her own education, finding self value, and developing life skills.

Tara Westover’s parents did not believe in a public education, therefore, she was never sent to public school. She did not go to school until she attended Brigham Young University, BYU, to study music because she wanted to direct a church choir. She learned new things in college such as the holocaust. As said on page 35, “I blurted out that I’d learned of the Holocaust only a few semesters before and wanted to learn the rest of the story” (Westover 35). Tara mentioned to her professor that she had learned of the holocaust and wanted to keep furthering her knowledge and education about Jewish history. Since she did not go to public school, she did not learn of the holocaust until she went to college. Upon learning of the holocaust, she wanted to learn the rest of Jewish history, in order to further her education.

Through going to college, Tara found self value in her own life. Tara Westover found her passion for history by going to college. She had conflicting thoughts about why she had passion for history. She wrote, “My love of history and politics and world affairs was not. And yet they called to me” (Westover 35). Tara Westover figures out that she loves history and politics but that is not compatible with her idea of what a woman should be. Even though that history, politics, and world affairs were not her idea of what a woman was they still called to her and she still wanted to study them.

Westover develops valuable life skills throughout her journey in education. By going to college, Tara developed her writing skills. Her professor helped her further her writing skills. Tara wrote, “None of my professors at BYU had examined by writing the way Professor Steinberg did” (Westover 40). Professor Steinburg at the University of Cambridge paid close attention to Tara Westover’s writing such as commas, periods, adjectives, adverbs, etc. By not overlooking the little mistakes it helped Tara improve her writing skills tremendously. Her developing her writing skills will help her in the future, and will help make society run smoothly. A functional society helps improve economic growth. 

Education is significant because it furthers students knowledge, helps find self value, and helps develop important life skills. Furthering students' knowledge helps expand his or her understanding, rational decision making. Finding self value helps make sure everyone is doing the right thing and that it is something they love. Finally, developing important life skills helps make sure everyone can function well in society. If everyone functions well in society.

Work Cited

Westover, Tara. “from Educated” From Inquiry to Academic Writing; A Text and Reader, edited by Stuart Greene and April Li, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2021, 34-36