Essay About Being Well Educated

What is the standard of being well educated? Is it to fluently speak English? Or is it to engineer the newest product? Being well educated, is it to be well mannered? Perhaps, being well educated is to attend an esteemed Ivy League institute? Could a well-educated person not have attended a prestigious university? Is being well-educated transcultural? Further, is being well-educated absolute? Frankly, today’s definition of being well educated is not constant from culture-to-culture or person-to-person; that is, its definition is not absolute. Although the details of being well educated may differ from culture-to-culture and person-to-person, a consistent truth that tends to interlink with being well educated is having the knowledge to fulfill one’s dreams, regardless of particularly where one attains the knowledge.

In his article “What Does It Mean to Be Well-Educated?” found in the third volume of the Principal Leadership, Alfie writes concerning his ex-wife Alisa. He writes regarding her academics. She went to the prestigious school Harvard, completing her anthropology doctoral dissertation, and subsequently Alisa ventured to

medical school, eventually becoming an outstanding practicing physician. While Alisa did attend proper schooling, she was not knowledgeable in mathematics (according to Alfie, she would struggle with the multiplication table) and in English (Alfie stated that her grammar and knowledge of literature were horrible). Hence, since she is not well educated in the areas of mathematics and English, is she not identified as a well-educated person?
Similarly to Alisa, I might not competently comprehend academic areas such as mathematics or English. Even when I obtain my BS in Religion, Master in Divinity, and my Doctorate in Ministry, I may unfortunately not fully understand mathematics or English. Through a series of events, I hope I become a university professor in religion. Honestly, plenty of schooling is necessary to attain this profession. However, comparably to Alisa, as she became a successful physician without expertly knowing mathematics and English, I will expectantly become a professor in Religion without possibly knowing mathematics or English. Likened to Alisa, despite my successful profession, if I am not well educated in the area of Math and/or English, will I not be a well-educated person?
Alfie’s article contains a section called “Some Poor Definitions”, where he writes concerning poor definitions, which certain cultures and people believe to be true, of being well educated. A poor conception, which cultures and people believe to be true, of being well educated is to memorize facts. Namely, being educated is to have memorized facts. For instance, Alisa, despite her admirable profession, would not be a well-educated person due to her lack of mathematics and English knowledge. Also, according to this poor definition, though I become a theological professor, I would not be a well-educated person.
If memorizing facts is true, hence cultures and people will not consider plenty of people as well educated.

Cohesively, Albert Einstein stated, “Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll spend its whole life believing its stupid.” As Alfie stated in his article, he finds professional doctors’ grammar horrid . If cultures and people judged professional doctors by their ability to write grammatically correct, cultures and people will subsequently believe doctors as imprudent, which is similar to the fish that was judged by its ability to climb a tree. Furthermore, if cultures and people judged according Alisa and my abilities in math or English, likened to the fishes and doctors previously mentioned, cultures and people would consider Alisa and I as unintelligent, that is, not well

educated.
There is an adequate constant in the definition of being well educated, nevertheless. Specifically, having the educational aptitude in which one’s dream can be achieved is a sufficient constant that properly defines being well educated. If professionals were judged (the word Albert Einstein termed) not by their memorization of their facts, but by their ability of achieving their dreams through education, thence, will they be rightfully well educated. Viewing being well educated in this manner will: (1) brings satisfaction, (2) be individualistically appropriate, and (3) help society as a whole. It brings satisfaction in the sense that an individual feels accomplished by being able to achieve his or her dreams by using the means of education. Also, each individual is unique, therefore, each should be judged differently, and being judged by their ability of being able to achieve their dreams is appropriate. Furthermore, when people in a society fulfill their dreams, the society excels. Concurringly, being well educated should be chiefly defined by the fulfillment one’s dream through education.