Education

OK, I promise not to make this a political forum, but I had an interesting conversation on the bus this morning about education. First of all, there is a pretty young woman on our first bus that has taken a kind interest in our son. She makes it a point of greeting him each morning and asking him specifically about school, what he's learning, how his grades are and his favorite subjects. It seems to bring her much joy to see a young person interested and articulate about what he's learning. When I asked her what she does for work, she mentioned that she is currently doing telemarketing, but also had a look in her eye that she would like to aspire to other things. Maybe her conversations with our son about the endless possibilities of education will continue to spark her enthusiasm.

Then as we walked to our next bus, a man I've never noticed before told us that he had wanted to ask my son what he wanted to become once he graduated from college. My son told him that he wanted to be an architect, and the man responded that he figured as much. I reminded my son how nice it is that people can see that he is serious about education and his future, without even knowing or ever speaking to him. Nice compliment.

But the conversation that sparked my attention the most this morning was with our friend from Ethiopia. He again told us how hopeful he is for our son's future, and how strongly he stressed education for his three adult children. His commitment has paid off: his two daughters are in line to become a lawyer and doctor, and his son a pharmacist. The interesting point he made was that a large percentage of students studying in this country are not born in the United States, and lamented that young people born in the U.S. take for granted the educational opportunities available to them. Being from Africa, he also lamented the lack of enthusiasm among African-Americans to focus on education and its empowerment, both financially and intellectually.

I promised not to become political, but sometimes conversations on the bus turn in that direction. What do you think, why has education become more important for some and less important for others in this country? What can be done to improve the situation? Please feel free to share your comments and thoughts about this and any other posts from this blog. Any questions about our bus commute and experieinces are welcome.

Promise to get back to more 'bus stories' next time, but just wanted to share the conversation.