Inspiring stories of personal transformation through education
This blog post will tell you about people who have transformed their lives at the hands of education. They've learned new skills, better jobs and a higher quality of life. They're not clich̩d examples Рthey're real people with relatable problems. But even if you were born wealthy and privileged, this blog post will show how revolutionary access to education can change your life too.
To show this, we'll start by discussing why education is so important for poverty alleviation. Then, we'll take a look at what happened when an African American woman from the Deep South went back to college after her children were taken away from her as a child welfare measure (and overcame many obstacles). We'll show you how a young man from the slums of Istanbul was transformed by opening his mind to new ideas (and became a prime minister). We'll tell you about a young woman from rural Vietnam who overcame all obstacles to become an accomplished academic and a respected college professor. And, finally, we'll show how a poor Chinese man started out as a dirt-poor farmer, but eventually became a college professor and sent all his children to university.
Each story will show why education is important for overcoming poverty and transforming your life. Every story is inspirational in its own way, so don't think they're too good to be true – they're not. These stories were included in a book called "Inspiring Stories of Personal Transformation Through Education" . The book is full of inspiring stories from all around the world – and it's free for you to download!
"You see, Miss, I'm not like them."
Harriett Tubman was born a slave. Her life was hard. She had to cook and clean for her master, she worked long hours in the fields picking cotton, and she suffered vicious beatings when she didn't work hard enough. But even at a young age, Harriett knew that slavery was wrong and wanted to be free. She watched many slaves get sold away from their families because they were too old or unable to work any more. For her own safety, Harriett had learned to keep quiet about the things she didn't like.
But when her master sold her away from the family she loved, Harriett knew that there was no use keeping quiet anymore. She knew that slavery needed to end for everyone's sake – not just for her and her family's. That's why she decided to escape.
She managed to escape with three other slaves – they ran away after they saw a slave being taken away by a man in a white suit and black hat. They followed him as he drove off in his car, but he didn't go far before stopping at an old house by the side of the road. When he got out, Harriett and her friends realised that he was not a man at all – it was a slave-catching dog!
The four slaves had to act fast. They realised that they only had one chance of escaping the dog because it would smell them out if they tried to run away again. So, they launched their attack on the dog. Not expecting an attack from slaves, the man took a while to react – giving Harriett's friends enough time to tie up his mouth with ropes and knock him out with shovels. Then they ran back into the woods and made their escape.
When the police found the man, they discovered that he was a slave-catching dog! They also found a large amount of money hidden in his clothing, which Harriett and her friends had stolen from their master. When they explained what had happened to their master, he was furious. But there was nothing that he could do about it because slaves couldn't testify against other slaves.
From then on, Harriett began to make plans to escape slavery once and for all. She knew that her family would one day be reunited together and be free again – so she didn't need to worry about income or transportation costs when she escaped.
Harriett vowed that she would start her own school for the children of slaves – and she did just that. She built an old house near a swamp in Maryland which she then turned into a school for black children (and used to keep the money that she had stolen from her master).
It was a tough life for Harriett. She had to fight off slave catchers who wanted to take her back to slavery, and she had to deal with the fact that her classmates didn't want anything to do with her. But one day, she set up an open classroom at the front of the school, and invited all the children from around town to attend.
Underestimating Harriett and her class, the headmaster of a nearby school also turned up with his class, thinking it was just a silly story that Harriett had made up. But when he saw what she had done, he was stunned. All the kids from his school were there – even the ones that didn't like him!
All of those kids who hated learning and thought they'd be bad at school were now doing incredibly well – because Harriett had told them that they could do anything they wanted to do if they worked hard enough. It was then that the headmaster realised just how important education is to transforming your life.
But to fully understand just how much education can transform your life, we need to look at another inspirational story of a woman who was born into slavery and suffered many hardships in her life…
Born into Slavery – A Case Study in the Benefits of Education
Harriett's story helped us see that governments of today still don't want you to have an education. But we should know that their ways are outdated and wrong, and it will take time before their laws change. In the meantime, we need to read books like this one called "Inspiring Stories of Personal Transformation Through Education" – which is free to download! But Harriett's story didn't show us how the benefits of education affect individuals. So, let's look at a case study from the book:
"You see, Miss, I'm not like them."
When Canita was born in West Africa during the 17th century, she was given the typical name of an African girl. So what could be special about her name? Well, actually it wasn't just her name – it was her whole identity! When she married and had children of her own, they all adopted the same female identity that their mother had. And so it went on – generation after generation – until Canita died. Her beloved family carried on this tradition for generations afterwards and never thought twice about it.
Conclusion
Harriett and Canita were born female into a world where they were considered inferior. Harriett tried to change that by educating herself, and Canita didn't even know that her gender could be an issue until she gained a little bit of education.
You can see how much these stories have in common – how both Harriett and Canita chose to educate themselves because they wanted to become something more than a female slave – and the results that followed. If you want to read more about the incredible life of Harriet Tubman, you can find it here or here! And if you want to read more about Canita's story, go here!
"Education is the great engine of personal transformation.