Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

March 7, 2013 By Fausta

An Education: A Passport to Your Journey

An education is a passport: It is not the reason to take a journey. It is not a ticket. It is not a destination. It is a tool to help you get where you want to be. At the same time, as a passport can be used for ID even when you’re not traveling, an education has a twofold effect: As you learn, you simultaneously expand your opportunities to learn. I found this out at a very young age.

 

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico in a family with a lot of relatives in traditional professions – medicine, law, academics, teaching – and from a young age I was encouraged to read. In a short time, I became a voracious, indiscriminate reader of anything and everything that was in front of me, in English or in Spanish. Be it National Geographic, Bohemia (definitely not a magazine for young readers), books, The World Book Encyclopedia, newspapers, or utility bills. I was expected to do well in school and to obtain a college degree. I also observed that in my large extended family, some had not followed the traditional professions, and they also had attained comfortably middle-class, stable, livelihoods.

 

When it was time to choose a college major, it was time to ask myself: What were the traits that my successful relatives shared in their educational backgrounds? The first thing was, they all had learned something useful for which there was a demand. The pre-baby boom generation needed not only teachers and professors, doctors, and engineers, but also workers who knew the technology of the day. While they entered fields and occupations that interested them, they kept sight of how their interests would fit the employment landscape. They had passports while they kept sight of the trip.

 

Each of my successful relatives set out to learn all they could about their jobs and their fields.

They could express themselves clearly and professionally to co-workers, colleagues and clients. They all had made their own learning.

As they made their own learning, they identified and explored the new opportunities that learning opened up to them.

The most successful: never stopped learning.

 

As in any journey, you need to identify your vision when you decide to pursue an education. In college, I majored in marketing and economics because I’m interested in business and money, and because those two fields afforded flexibility in employment options. I pursued an MBA at night while working full-time, with my employer’s encouragement. My long-term goal has been to remain flexible. I have worked in retailing, real estate, insurance, and on the board of a local non-profit, which led to new opportunities in education-related fields. This in turn, led to a deeper interest in literacy and literature. Recently, I completed an online certificate program in English-to-Spanish translation, which supplements my blogging and my teaching at a local language school.

 

As you need to renew your passport, you also need to update your skills. By updating your skills, you stay ahead of the competition and become a more valuable worker, and you become more challenged in your job and in your everyday life. You are taking advantage of new opportunities. You are excited about the new blessings your work brings you and your loved ones. Your loved ones, in turn, become inspired by you.

 

Your purpose becomes your deeds. And it all started when you set out to get that passport for your journey: the education you had been thinking about.

 

Change is inevitable. But, making change happen when you want it to can be hard. And when you want to make a real change, you need to learn something new. Because education is the key to change, Kaplan has spent 75 years re-writing the rules of education. Because they believe that education is not one size fits all. A system focused on the needs of individuals can give students the power to change their lives. Kaplan wasn’t satisfied with the status quo, and you shouldn’t be either. To jumpstart your change, we encourage you to watch Kaplan’s video series, Visionary Voices, to hear the latest insights on emerging trends from notable thought leaders; participate in Kaplan’s ADVANCE: Career. Education. You. group on LinkedIn to connect with professionals committed to life-long learning; and connect with students, alumni and educational professionals at StudentAdvisor.com, Kaplan’s one-stop-shop for the latest education news, reviews, and advice.

I’d love to hear from you and learn how education has given you the power to change! Leave a comment below and be entered to win a $100 VISA gift card!

 

Rules

 

No duplicate comments.

 

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

 

  1. 1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
  2. 2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
  3. 3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
  4. 4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

 

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

 

The Official Rules are available here.

 

This sweepstakes runs from 3/7/2013-3/31/2013

 

Be sure to visit the Kaplan Brand Page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

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Filed Under: education, Fausta's blog Tagged With: BlogHer, Fausta's blog, Kaplan

Comments

  1. Mami2jcn says

    March 7, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    Even though I’m a stay at home mom now, I am really proud of the undergraduate and graduate degrees I earned. I think it sets a good example for my children to follow.

  2. Mami2jcn says

    March 7, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    tweet–https://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/309719950849892352

  3. Ellie W says

    March 7, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    I was pregnant with my third son while finishing my first semester of college courses. I thought it was important to finish no matter how hard it was at the time. It helped me get a good job afterward getting my degree and give my kids a better life

  4. Ellie W says

    March 7, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    tweeted
    https://twitter.com/eswright18/status/309741968223768576

  5. Fausta says

    March 7, 2013 at 3:55 pm

    Thanks Maml!

  6. Fausta says

    March 7, 2013 at 3:56 pm

    Thanks, Ellie!

  7. Elena says

    March 7, 2013 at 4:11 pm

    My education gives me an opportunity to help other people stay healthy

  8. Elena says

    March 7, 2013 at 4:13 pm

    https://twitter.com/ElenaIstomina/status/309758539897925632

  9. Gringo says

    March 7, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    When I needed to find a new career, I started out at a low salary with a business that was also starting out. While a big corporation would have not hired me for the job, because my resume did not indicate the precise skills for the job, the small business tolerated my OJT, due to both my low beginning salary and that the business was also learning how to do things. My resume did indicate I had skills and the ability to learn, however. As my skills increased, the complexity of the projects I was assigned increased.
    The database skills I taught myself, in addition to learning the details of the business, increased my salary and most importantly, kept me employed.

    My previous education was helpful in learning databases because of the problem solving skills I had developed.

  10. stephanie says

    March 7, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    im a stay at home mom but i like to go back to school

  11. stephanie says

    March 7, 2013 at 4:29 pm

    tweet: https://twitter.com/akronugurl/status/309762635803529217 .

  12. Fausta says

    March 7, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    Thanks, Stephanie!

  13. Fausta says

    March 7, 2013 at 4:40 pm

    Thanks Elena!

  14. Livivua Chandler says

    March 11, 2013 at 11:15 am

    Education has given me the option to know my importance and i am able to share my knowledge with others

  15. Livivua Chandler says

    March 11, 2013 at 11:16 am

    https://twitter.com/vivaciousgold/status/311133492916408320
    tweeted

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