Makena Snipes
As an artist and as someone who supports social justice causes including the championing of needing more funding in the education system, I understand my civic duty to the world to create impactful design that will send upstanding messages to help better our society. With this prompt, I wanted to highlight what has been so important to me throughout my entire educational career: integration. I received my high school education in a very rural part of America where my graduating class consisted of only 35 people. I took the most basic core classes such as English, history, math, and so on. There was no room for diversity or integration. No room for questioning your teachers or your peers on their actions. If you tried to speak out even a little bit, you were shunned and questioned yourself on why you were diverging from the norm. My classmates were safe in this bubble and were never challenged on these beliefs that they obtained from our close-minded population. Even though I was in the thick of this, I could see that there was more to learn and grow from in other aspects outside of the classroom which I desperately grabbed at any chance I could. Education in our schools should present students with opportunities for integration within other cultures, classes, and even careers. Although I can only speak for rural schools, I would hope that my future children and grandchildren are able to attend schools that require this sort of integration and education. Only recently have I heard of bilingual schools opening in America as well as classrooms where everyone is accepted and no one is separated by special needs. Children are being taught to love and support one another and this dialogue should continue into their adult lives as well. Society has never been kind but I feel as though with these small steps forward, pushing through the bigotry, we are getting somewhere in America’s education system. Since working hard throughout high school at several different jobs to now studying as a full-time student at a private university on scholarship, I look back at my high school education and am almost thankful for it. Without those experiences, I would not have pushed myself as hard to leave and want to grow more in college. Now, as I continue my education as a first-generation student about to graduate full of dreams, hope, and knowledge, I will always believe that an integrated education is a meaningful one.
