Why We Go to School: A Truth Beyond Jobs and Happiness
I like education because it empowers enlightenment. Through it, thinkers are born, people who can logically challenge ideas, ask difficult questions, and push societies toward justice and progress. But somewhere along the way, the purpose of education got distorted. In economies like ours, which are hard-hit by inequality and uncertainty, schools have slowly transformed into something else. We now chase certificates like they’re tickets to jobs and happiness - nothing more.
Whenever I meet my friends, or comrades, I often ask them one question: "Why are you in school?" Their answers, while honest, are often heartbreaking. "To get a well paying job, to be happy, to live a better life..." And while these are valid aspirations, I find myself unsettled by how one dimensional our view of education has become. We’ve equated school with employment and happiness - as though getting a degree guarantees either. But really, where is the guarantee?
We live in a world where many successful, fulfilled individuals never stepped into a university classroom. At the same time, we know people with impressive degrees - yet they remain jobless, frustrated, and unhappy. So what then is the real purpose of education?
Schooling is not just about getting a job. It’s about acquiring the knowledge, mindset, and emotional strength to navigate life - both in seasons when honey flows freely, and in seasons when all you're served are bitter lemons. Unfortunately, nobody told us that. Nobody prepared us for the emotional terrain of life. We learned mathematics and grammar, but never patience. We studied chemistry and geography, but skipped emotional intelligence. And so, we graduated with knowledge - but not wisdom.
That’s why a slight disagreement at work pushes some to quit. A poor performance review leads others into depression. We were never taught how to handle failure, correction, or uncertainty. We were raised to believe that success has a deadline, that life follows a straight line, and that anything outside that line is failure.
After school, some of our peers find jobs quickly. Others don’t. And those who don’t begin to feel left behind - as if life’s clock has betrayed them. Within days of graduation, many spiral into self-doubt. "Am I late?" "Is something wrong with me?" Society handed us deadlines for success, and school trained us to obey them - without ever teaching us how to cope when life delays us.
We were told to perform - but not to prepare. We were taught formulas, but never warned of seasons. No one told us it’s okay if your journey doesn’t look like someone else’s. We weren’t told that being "late" by society’s clock doesn’t make you lost. We became desperate to meet expectations we never questioned.
But education should have taught us something deeper. That true learning is about growth - deep, sometimes painful, often invisible growth. That the world doesn’t need more employees; it needs more thinkers, creators, reformers, and problem-solvers. That a degree is not a throne to sit on, but a torch to light paths - for yourself and for others.
Where you come from, someone is watching you. Someone who never made it to school sees your progress as hope. Someone unemployed or struggling still believes your exposure could bring them inspiration, ideas, maybe even opportunity. So yes, go to school. But don’t go just to seek a job. Go to become useful, thoughtful, and transformational.
And remember this - education doesn’t mean you’ll be the first to succeed, the first to be happy, or the first to make money. True education teaches you to wait, to serve, to see opportunity in dirt, and to stand tall even in defeat. It teaches you how to connect, how to learn from different people and cultures, how to ask "why?", and how to live with humility.
Someone once said: "If I only wanted a job, I would have dropped out of school long ago." But that same person also observed a friend who started a business 8 years ago and still hadn’t grown it - not because effort was lacking, but because knowledge and strategy were. That’s what school offers - not magic, not miracles, but perspective, awareness, and the tools for better decision-making.
Socrates once said, "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." Malcolm X added, "Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today." So we don’t school simply to get jobs - we school to prepare for tomorrow, whatever form it takes. Schooling is how we conquer ignorance, not life’s problems.
Education is admirable, but we must remember: nothing truly worth knowing can be taught. You must seek it. You must live it. You must unlearn, relearn, and evolve.
So yes, go to school. But while at it - seek knowledge, exposure, and maturity. Learn how to disagree with grace. Learn how to fail and still rise. Learn how to see beyond yourself. Learn how to create value, solve problems, and when possible, create jobs - instead of just seeking one.
And most importantly, don’t be too expectant. School is not a shopping mall where you walk in and leave with a ready-made life. It’s a journey of becoming. Misaligned expectations will only breed bitterness, discouragement, and despair. Education is not miseducation - unless you think it’s only about jobs and happiness. And a miseducated person isn’t just delayed. They’re lost.
Let’s go to school not just to be employed, but to be equipped. Not just to escape poverty, but to understand life. Let’s learn not just for grades, but for growth.