My Education, My Future

When I was in seventh grade I decided that I wanted to attend college and I wanted to be a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (Cal Berkeley). At the age of twelve it became my goal to strive for the best grades in middle school and high school. In high school I attended college fairs to research Cal Berkeley and its admission requirements. Academically, I challenged myself by taking honor and advanced placement (AP) classes; my name had a permanent place on the Academic Honor Roll. I enrolled at Cal Berkeley in 2002 and graduated in 2006.

On September 8, 2009 the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama delivered a speech on education to all the children attending kindergarten through twelfth grade in the U.S. President Obama’s speech was more of a conversation with you, America’s school children. He urged you to take responsibility in your education. The president proposed that every student from kindergarten through high school should think about what she or he likes to do or what she or he has to offer and if you are unsure; he suggested that you use education to help you discover those things.

If you have not seen the president’s speech, take a moment to watch the YouTube video attached.

President Obama urged you as a student in America, as an American to not quit on yourself because quitting on yourself would be quitting on your country. The president instructed all students that you must “train for it, work for it, and learn for it” if you want to succeed not only as a student, but also as an American. I trained for Cal Berkeley by attending college fairs and researching the school requirements, I worked to get accepted by taking challenging classes and making the honor roll in high school, and I studied hard and learned a tremendous amount so that I could graduate with a degree.

Tell us your thoughts about the president’s speech. Should you have to be responsible for your education? How are you training, working, and learning to be a successful person, a successful American? Share with us what goals you have set for yourself this school year. If you have not set any goals, what is holding you back? The president stated in his speech that you “write your destiny, you write your future.” Tell us what you want your destiny to be, what do you have planned for your future? Does the president’s speech apply to you; are you attending a struggling school that has left you behind? If so, what should have President Obama said you instead?

-- Princess K. Allen
Guest Blogger