If you think Education is expensive, try Ignorance..

I think that says a lot about the importance of education. That just about sums it up, if you were to be imaginative and finish the line yourself...'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance..'
It is one of my favourite quotes. The price I put on education isn't monetary, but it is very valuable. I don't mean being educated in terms of having been through university/college only, Im also talking about being informed and knowledgeable about things because you take time to read. That is the kind of education that we all need, to get through life. We often think education is expensive, especially education at tertiary level. That is indeed true, but think about this; the price we put on education is nothing compared to what ignorance offers us. We put ourselves through so much struggle because we choose to be ignorant. In our quest to be educated we learn things that help give us an edge over many obstacles that life can throw our way, why? because we know what to do when it happens. Thats the beauty of being well informed.
Lets take a look at ignorance. The dictionary says it is 'the condition of being unaware, uneducated and uninformed'. Just think about how much you lose from just being plain ignorant...e.g. in most cases an ignorant person would buy a house just to live in it, not looking at it as also a future investment that needs to be protected and maintained. An informed person will look at the area where they are buying that property among many other things before they make that purchase, and when they do, they know they must take care of it. This is just an example for lack of a better one, but do you get my point?...

I make it a point to always know whats going on around me and elsewhere. I read a lot of newspapers every week and I watch the News on a regular basis. My father has instilled that value in me from a very young age and Im grateful for it. My sisters and I would spend hours watching music videos on Tv during school holidays. He would then yell at us for not being interested in anything else other than music (of course! we were teens). So we would switch on to CNN to watch the News with him. He would say to us that one day we will wake up into World War 3 and we wouldn't know what started it! In my house there were always plenty of books and newspapers to read, documentaries on videos to watch, and the radio would surely be switched on during News bulletin times. That helped make me part of who I am. Im often always the one telling the others of whats happening where. Sounds funny, but I find it a shame.

Its very important to put yourself through tasks of getting informed for your own sake, it could SAVE YOUR LIFE!
"The freedom which comes with being educated is liberating and priceless." Oluchi