All Pebbles Deserve To Be Great

Catherine Adam, 12th Grade
Pioneer High School, San Jose, CA
Bay Area

In 2001, the fourth graders in my class were hardly interested in looking to the future, let alone college. However, I knew that I wanted to work with animals, that I had a passion for saving, healing, and rehabilitating animals of all kinds, and I just knew that I would never abandon this desire.

Eight years later, my ideals have changed, my interests are far more varied, and I realize that there is so much more to college than the act of going to school. I understand that it takes hard work and determination to reach goals and that I have much to contribute to society (besides income taxes).

This need, this yearning to advanced education surely makes a statement on its own. Sure, I may not want to be a veterinarian like I did in fifth grade, or be a music teacher like in seventh, but now that I have broadened my horizons, I see that an English teacher, a university linguistics professor, or a wildlife rehabilitation facility supervisor all fit into our society like pieces in a puzzle. I may not want to be a neurosurgeon or aspire to be the future Attorney General of the United States, but I am confident that I offer something to humankind that allows the world to continue to function.

I, as well as my peers, do not mind simply being pebbles that lay along the bottom of the creek bed, rather than the vast rocks that cause the waves to crash on the beach, or the infamous iceberg that impaled the Titanic; if there were no pebbles, what would moss have to hold on to? If there were no pebbles, the Philistines would have triumphed over the Israelites. (And just imagine Fred Flintstone without a daughter!) I am proud to aspire to be a pebble; pebbles, though small, are unique; they are of different shapes and colors. They lay the foundation for all great continents. Without higher education, my peers and I would simply lie along the bottom of the creek bed and drown in muddy waters.

We need higher education in order to succeed and in order to reciprocate our knowledge into the minds of others; educated pebbles will attract moss that may branch out and feed other creatures. Only greatness can come from higher education. I believe we deserve to be great.