College tuition has been a critical issue with students across the United States, especially as costs continue to skyrocket every year. However, President Obama recently outlined a series of changes that he felt are necessary to help keep college tuition costs from getting any higher. According to the president, higher education is an extraordinarily important …
Category: Education
Jan 26
Female Genital Mutilation: A Growing Problem in Western Countries
Culture, customs, and traditions are what make the world a uniquely diverse place. As time has progressed, societies and their rules and values have changed due to the receiving of new information, innovative technology, and an increased awareness. Some traditions that are now known to be harmful and discriminatory, however, still persist in the world …
Jan 24
Child Poverty in America
When the recession hit in 2008 I was living in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Port St. Lucie is a small city on the east coast side of Florida about midway in between Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Florida was hit particularly hard by the recession and the unemployment rate jumped from 8% to 16% in some …
Jan 23
Understanding the Connections: Refugees and Education
A few years ago, my friend introduced me to a new author she really enjoyed, Dave Eggers. I first read his work You Shall Know My Velocity, then moved on to his autobiographical book Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius. Not only did I love his writing, but also when I read his life story, …
Jan 23
Accomplishing Universal Primary Education
One of the United Nation’s eight millennium development goals for 2015 is to achieve universal primary education. This means that both boys and girls, regardless of where in the world they live, will be able to complete a full primary school education. To give you an idea of how challenging of an effort this is, …
Jan 18
Honor Killings – Culture and Education
Honor killings are generally associated with cultures that treat women with contempt. These cultures see females as objects that can be owned, sold, and handled in whatever way is deemed appropriate by a male. When a woman commits an act that traditionally “brings shame” to a family or community, she is killed. More often than …
Dec 19
A New School for NYC
New York City may be adding a new higher education facility in its midst fairly soon. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently decided that the City of Lights needs a top of the line applied sciences school. The mayor has taken a great interest in the idea of a new academic institution, much to the chagrin …
Dec 08
Chaplin’s World
A few nights ago, just as I had closed the books and decided to go to sleep, I stumbled upon a clip of Charlie Chaplin’s impressionable speech at the end of his 1940 film The Great Dictator. In his speech, he made an emotional appeal against the direction the world was headed. He acknowledged that …
Dec 05
An Educational Secret
Education is one of the most important commodities in the world, and many of us are privileged enough to have access to education in the United States. However, this is not the case for millions of undocumented immigrants who currently live in the U.S, but are unable to access higher education. Millions came to America …
Nov 28
Giving Back: Pencils of Promise
Every year when Thanksgiving comes around, I come up with a list of all the things I am grateful for, and then I try to give back to charitable organizations in my community or elsewhere. This year, I decided to give back to a non-profit organization called Pencils of Promise. Though it has been around …