"Me Talk Pretty One Day" Writing Assignment

1. Write a short essay that describes one specific experience where learning made you fearful.

Upon learning the rate at which my home-countries economy and social pedistile is falling, I wasn't so sure I wanted to be educated. At the moment in class when my teacher was describing how much debt the country is in, the amount of people below the poverty line, and how corrupt country is becoming, I felt a sense of defeat. The more the teacher spoke, the more ignorance looked blissful.
Growing up, the children of the United States are made to believe that they live in the best country in the world. We are taught to view the U.S. as the homeland of heroes and justice. Together we sing The National Anthem, America The Beautiful, and pledge allegiance to the country of the free. I'd love to stay in this proud state of mind, and ignore the fact that our nation is crumbling, and no better than any country that has battled us in wars. If I were to remain in ignorance, I wouldn't be burden with the fear that my loved home may someday not be as it is now. I would not have to think about the poverty I am likely to experience after college, or the fact that that other people are in poverty. The fact that people are still enslaved in our country wouldn't bother me nor would the fact that the United States owes China more than it may ever be able to pay. Fortunately I'm not ignorant. For from ignorance there would be no change, and this country is in desperate need of change.
At times, education can seem like a curse and a blessing. A curse for the lazy because it moves us from out comfortable beds in the darkness. It makes life a challenge in that we have to move. The blessings are obvious: education promotes awareness, understanding, growth, and change. Learning that it is necessary to fight for a better way of living against those try to suppress others into ignorance is frightening. at the same time the responsibility is exhilarating and brings a whole new understanding to the phrase "the children are the future".