importance of education

In our class reading, I Am Malala, we learn about the importance of education to Malala Yousefzai, especially in the Pashtun region of Pakistan where she lives, where so many people want to deny education to young girls.

We might take our own education for granted, or we might�ve had time where we hated school or loved the social part of school more than learning. Some of you may have had your education interrupted along the way for various reasons,
some of you moved around from school to school, some of you may have really struggled in school, while others of you might�ve been like Malala and succeeded well in school. Some of you might�ve had a parent, coach, teacher, or mentor who had a significant impact on your education, your success as a learner, or your attitude toward education.

So in the spirit of Malala, who continues to fight for the right of all children to have access to a quality education right through college, you are going to start off the semester thinking about your own education and how you got here to UTM, and why you got here to UTM, and what your educational goals are. Here are a few possibilities to get you thinking:

? Compare and contrast yourself as a student earlier in your life w/ you who are now as a student at UTM�
? Reflect on a specific educational experience (good or bad, funny, embarrassing, life-changing, a success, a failure you learned from, etc.)�
? Recall a specific, significant educator in your life�
? Reflect on a specific college educational experience�in your major, in a course that led you to change your major, with a specific professor, completing a specific assignment or project, etc�.
? Celebrate overcoming an educational obstacle�
? Make a point about education in America (or your home state, country, town) that is based in your own experience and observations�
? Write about an out-of-class experience that has had a direct impact on your educational life/perspective/experience (being a parent or veteran, being in the military now, dealing w/ a health issue, being a non-traditional student, etc.)

Your essay will be built around a main point or a main lesson or a main idea that gives your narrative a �so what,� a �thesis.�

To complete your essay you are going to find 1 source that illustrates, supports/confirms, defines, makes current, expands on, &/or provides a larger context for your own experience(s)/observation(s)/point(s). If you choose, you can add a second source, BUT only to provide a wise quote, a quote from I Am Malala that fits into your main idea, a song lyric, or a poem that adds a creative point to your essay�otherwise, 1 source only.
Parameters
? 4 double-spaced, typed pages, in correct MLA format
? Engaging Title that catches readers� attention and reflects your main message
? A clear main point about your educational experience/history that you state in your introduction (so somewhere in your first two paragraphs or so)
? 1 well-chosen source related to education that fits into your essay
? A correctly formatted MLA Works Cited for your 1 source (& for your second source if you have one)
? 1-2 sentences that correctly use a semi-colon
? 1-2 sentences that correctly use a dash
? Well organized essay, paragraphs, sentences; a clear line of thought that is easy to follow throughout the essay
? Correct use of verb tense; coherent transition between past, present, future
? Correct Standard English grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, spelling
? Few to no typos
? At least 2 visits to the Writing Center, with WA#1 typed drafts, to work w/ a tutor, 2 different weeks (I check attendance in the WC files)
? Participation in Peer Review w/ 3 copies of a typed draft of at least 2 pages
? Peer Review & WC drafts submitted w/ final draft (so don�t throw away any of your Peer Review or WC drafts!)
? Turn in printed copy of your WA#1 source(