The term "education" can mean many things. An education is the collective knowledge a person has, but what does an education mean? Although an education can be paid for, no one can physically give you an education, so it is not a gift. There are societal situations where an education is a necessity, but not many globally. Education is a tool to be utilized differently in every part of the world. Education is a tool that is to be developed by a combination of motivation, preparation, support, and society. .
Once you have made the decision to attain an education, certain virtues must be possessed. You must be motivated by something, weather it be money, power, or just the desire to learn. It is motivation that drives you to learn new things and to expand your horizons. You must prepare for an education. For everything that you want to know, there is something else you need to know first. Before you can be proficient on a piano you must know music, and before you can be proficient on a computer you must learn to use a keyboard and a mouse. Even though these skills may seem intuitive to some, someone from a different social culture may not have been introduced to these ideas at all. You must also have certain resources provided. To learn in an institution, often times you need money, books, and other materials that, sadly enough, cannot always be secured. This situation exemplifies the problems that one can face when an education is desired but outside resources disallow this.
There are certain things that a person must know in order to have the power to survive in a chosen society. These things change with regards to the society at hand. In more developed places it is important that you know how to read. Without this skill a person will remained severely uninformed, disconnected, and uneducated. The ability to read is the stepping stone to self-education. A literate person with motivation and knowledge of construction can become successful with very little institutionalized education.
