“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. . . . And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go."
Oh, The Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss
Back to school! Parents breathe a sigh of relief. Children are excited about meeting their teachers, seeing friends and shopping for supplies—not only new back-to-school clothes but the latest in lunch boxes, binders and backpacks.
This week, an estimated 1.2 million children returned to Virginia classrooms. Next week, approximately, 2.8 million will head back to Florida schools.
In my generation of Baby Boomers, we looked forward to new shoes and clothes, along with a metal lunchbox. No backpacks in those days. We had our #2 pencils, a box of 24 crayons—only a few classmates had a box of 72 crayons with gold, silver and bronze colors—writing paper, gym clothes and a box of Kleenex to share.
School started after Labor Day. A long summer vacation seemed blissful, but immediately after the December holidays, we cleared the dining table of holiday figurines, spread out textbooks and began studying for midterm tests and working on book reports, and history and science projects. But these early years provided a good foundation for our later love of learning.
Education cannot be taken for granted. Generations of people have been prevented from attending school because of race, ethnicity or creed. Enslaved African Americans. Those living under dictatorships and repressive governments. Those many children in makeshift schools—tents, train stations, bomb shelters—because their traditional education has been disrupted by conflicts and natural disaster.
Education has been described in times of crisis as “life sustaining” and life changing” by Helena Murseli, head of UNICEF Global Education in Emergencies (O’Donnell).
But we find courage in organizations and people who have risked their lives to get an education or ensure others do. Education provides continuity, normalcy and hope for a better future, and it’s critical to an informed Democracy.
In a 2016 commencement speech given at City College of New York with a graduating class of composed of more than 150 nationalities, First Lady Michelle Obama had this to say about education.
“That is the power of our differences to make us smarter and more creative. And that is how all those infusions of new cultures and ideas, generation after generation, created the matchless alchemy of our melting pot and helped us build the strongest, most vibrant, most prosperous nation on the planet, right here.”
Where else but a university would such an experience be possible!
An education provides an invaluable exposure to new ideas and cultures, creative approaches to problem solving and a chance to fulfill dreams.
“The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”
–Dolly Parton, Imagination Library
Works Cited
Obama, Michelle. “Remarks by the First lady at the City College of New York Commencement.” 3 June 2016. National Archives and Records Administration. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/06/03/remarks-first-lady-city-college-new-york-commencement. Accessed 6 August 2025.
O’Donnell, Anna. “From Crisis to Classroom: How the UN Supports Education in Conflict Zones. UN News. United Nations. 17 July 2025. https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/07/1165417. Accessed 9 August 2025.
Parton, Dolly. “Celebrating 30 Years of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.” Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. https://imaginationlibrary.com/. Accessed 7 August 2025.
Seuss, Dr. (Theodor Seuss Geisel). Oh, the Places You'll Go! Random House, 1960.
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