Key of Knowledge

Isabella Cicconi

Within discussing what exactly a perfect society would entail, it’s a place where both equality and freedom of choice can coincide together. But, in a world where advantages and prejudices are somehow both more ramped than a plague, that perfect future is something that would take years upon years to be created. But, that’s why it’s a current dream, a dream that hopefully will eventually become a reality. Dreaming, exercising the values of hope and faith for the future, is one of the most valuable human traits; it’s what keeps the human race growing, the hope for the future. We dream of the things that we are eventually able to accomplish, to accomplish with the knowledge that we have. When discussing dreaming, education opens more doors for dreams to be envisioned. In a perfect world, this key to dreaming would be easily accessible for everyone, as education and knowledge build the ground for the world around us. Currently, education for everyone is not nearly as accessible as it should be, and therefore, the future for hundreds of millions is extremely limited. A perfect world is a world where these doors are open; an ideal society is one where hopes are not held back with the strings of prejudice, and instead open with the keys of knowledge.
According to UNICEF as of 2021, about 617 million children from around the world are deprived of a basic education. On top of this, in certain educational districts depending on the area, young students still face prejudices that hinder huge disadvantages in their educational prowis. When looking at the history of the United States for example, educational programs were still formerly segregated by race as late as the 1960’s; schools were divided by African Americans, Latinos, Asain Americans, and more. Because of this deep history of segregation, many schools today are still heavily divided by ethnicities. This also affects the budget of these educational programs, as poor families are often forced to send their children to poorly funded schools, therefore giving them a poorly funded education. Not only does this damage the future of the individual, but it furthers the deep redlining and segregation of educational districts, not allowing students to be properly united and treated equally. And, this is only a mere example of the inequality of the educational system in one country. In other countries, which seem especially foreign to the U.S, some are not able to get any education at all; despite each reason being complex and different, they normally stem from race, gender, income, and the area to which they reside. These are known as educational imbalances, which are factors that directly hinder the attainment of one’s education. All of which are factors that children have no control of; despite this, they are still forcibly limited to their education and therefore limiting the dreams that they are able to aspire.
For the longest time, I’ve known that the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do was teach english. Despite being well aware that it doesn’t pay much in comparison to other career fields that also require a master’s degree, I knew that I would have one of the most powerful positions when it comes to creating a perfect future society. I would be a small part, but a part that still pushed for equality in the education system. Its imbalances and lack of proper teaching for all creates further arrogance and ignorance. This ignorance leads to further prejudice, and the spiral only continues. In dreaming of a “perfect world”, it would be a world where knowledge and free education would be accessible to all; and within that education, it would push its students to dream further beyond their imaginations instead of attempting to push out factory workers. Just like knowledge is known as a highly dangerous weapon, it is also humanity’s most valuable strength in dreaming for the future.