Fredrick Douglas strongly valued perseverance and breaking out of boundaries set by society. He did not believe he was born to be just a slave but in fact, so much more than that. Through sheer hard work and determination, he proved the world wrong and became a well known  author. Like Douglas, I believe that society does not have the right to define your ultimate worth and potential. Anything and everything can be accomplished by any individual who is willing to try.

In this day and age, I value education. I value the right to understand and expand one's knowledge about the world around them and believe that everyone deserves that right no matter rich or poor, black or white, male or female. I find it criminal that in this 21st century, we are still "incapable" of providing each and every world citizen with knowledge through education.

We may complain about how we resent school and detest how much homework we have provided by our teachers, but many do not realize how lucky we are in the sense that we have this opportunity to learn from the past and hopefully create new futures. In a world of airplanes, bionic legs, robotics, and even cures for cancer, I fail to understand how others in less economically developed countries are fishing dirty water from wells and are enduring severe weather conditions in less than adequate tents for homes. They are malnourished and uneducated while we are abusing the rights and powers we have as higher class citizens. It is unjust.

Education should not be a privilege. It is a necessity and one that should be afforded to all.