Perfection is NOT Attainable

One of my favorite quotations is “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we find excellence” (Vince Lombardi). This quotation puts my life into perspective. Sometimes, I find myself being a perfectionist, taking too long editing an assignment, because I don’t think that it’s “perfect” enough to be graded. When I think about this quotation, I realize that I’m not perfect, since I’m a human and humans can’t be perfect, so nothing I do will be absolutely perfect. This doesn’t mean, however, that there’s no point in trying, because just as this quotation says, even though we aren’t going to reach perfection, we can still find excellence. I think it’s important for me to think about this quotation more often, when I’m feeling really stressed or exhausted. This quotation also helps me to find the perfect balance in life—I should never stop trying my best, but there’s also a point in time when I have to let go of the assignment (or whatever I happen to be doing) and realize that I’ve done all I can do.

Education is…

the most powerful weapon (with which you can change the world).

Binding the People

We all live on this planet together. All of us. Even though some may come from the North, some may come from the South, some may come from the East, and some may come from the West, we are all living on this Earth together. This planet–no matter where we are on Earth–is our home. Your home might be the countryside, while my home is the city. Your home might be the forest, while my home is the beach. Your home might be the Arctic, while my home might be the desert. But nevertheless, Earth is our home.

There has recently been a big movement throughout America to raise awareness on environmental issues such as pollution and other forms of waste to protect our home of the Earth. Such movements are extremely important since we, as people all living on the same planet, have to be careful of what we do to our home. Such movements have bound people together who normally wouldn’t agree–people of different race, of different religion, and of different political views. It is often the case that people don’t bind together unless they are forced to–unless their own safety is at risk.

But I believe that as people, we need to bind together on another issue: an issue that is just as valuable as the environment. Yes, the environmental movements in this country are extremely important as our home definitely needs to be protected. But we need to bind together on the importance of education. Because if we stay on the road we are headed as a nation (and as a world), we will have a beautiful and clean home to live in, but no one who knows how to care for it. We need to realize that without education, we won’t have the leaders we need to engage the future generations on the environmental issues I speak of. We cannot continue to let education be the first thing cut out of government funding right after levies are lifted and votes are counted. What else will it take for us as people to bind together on something that has the potential to change our future? This is unacceptable!

The issue of the environment doesn’t only affect Americans–and because of that, other countries have agreed to help out in terms of reducing carbon emissions, etc. And just the same, the issue of education doesn’t only affect Americans. Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate

Other countries need this education. But if we as Americans don’t start putting a serious emphasis on education as leaders of the world, we will fail to bring our fellow people into the educational revolution we need for the future of us as people. As people of Earth.

–Sarah