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How can education change the world?

Education keeps us informed. It shapes us into individuals who are well-informed with the current affairs of the world, and who have been taught how to deal in tough situations with both empathy and right-mindedness. Help wherever you can. Use your bold and young voice to motivate more people to accompany you in your good mission.

Students can change the world, but how?

That’s the question that arises in the minds of all of them when they’re spending hours and hours studying and learning new things and answering pop-quizzes (surprise!), trying to co-exist in a controlled and controlling environment with middle-aged teachers who sometimes don’t even want to do that job.

I mean, why not just…you know…learn deep diving to photograph and research…take, goblin sharks. You might land a chance to get featured on National Geographic.

But as a student, how can education change the world. What’s the meaning of all of this? People might believe that students can change the world, if they put in the right knowledge and right effort for some good cause, but is it really true?

How can education change the world for the good?

1.0 | How Can Education Change the World?

Have you ever heard of the saying, youth is wasted on the young, attributed to the Irish playwright and political activist Georg Bernard Shaw?

I’m assuming you already understand the meaning of that—the youth are full of energy and stamina and skill, but the only problem is that they waste it on silly, useless, unproductive things.

Youth is the age of foolishness by many. Some are mature and responsible, but most of us have undoubtedly spent the good part of our teenage and young years on tasks that never mattered enough. If old people got the same vigorous stamina and energy as we have, they’d probably make better use of it aided by their experience and understanding of the world.

So does that mean that young people are only meant to make mistakes and act immaturely until life teaches them the hard way? Nooooooo.

We can’t live life like this. We can’t wait around for a better age or a better situation to start acting for the good. We also can’t waste all our time and chances in hopes for a life where it’ll magically all get easier and we’ll get smarter.

Good news there’s one thing we can do. That’s changing the world.

This is a part of the ongoing, extensive series My Formula for Changing the World. If you’re new here, then I will introduce you to the family. If you’re maybe returning and familiar, then heart-fully stated, welcome back.

The youth mainly comprise of the students: the ones who’re studying, who’re getting an education and finding out more and more ways of making their positive impacts and leaving their developed footprints all around.

Students can change the world.

If the millennials and all those Gen Z tried a little harder, maybe we could get somewhere after all.

In this article we’ll deal with the understanding of the process of revealing how can education change the world, finding out the right amount of creativity and passion involved, determining the role of education as the catalyst, and finally—we’ll see how we the students can act as the agents for changing the world.

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Education changes society.

Gen Z understands.

I’m not saying that the millenials don’t, or the Gen X don’t. Everyone understands.

But incidentally, the Gen Z understands more than anyone else because they are faced with the fact that one day this possibility of a scary and doomed future will be their undeniable reality. We talk about the ill effects of climate change, and global epidemics, and wars, and air pollution and carbon fuels.

But some day in the future, all of these things will suddenly hit us in the face and we’ll realise that it’s here. The future’s here. What will we do then? Try to mend it? Wouldn’t that deem impossible then—mending something that’s already happened and might as well be irreversible now?

I sometimes sit and think about what we are doing—all these lazy trials at correcting the circumstances and situations—is all of this even going to make a difference? Or have we done something that’s past repair?

Students have got a unique perspective. They have got the energy that comes with surviving in a highly-demanding and competitive environment that we call a school.

Students are trained. Students can change the world.

They are trained since the beginning regarding all the right values and ethics. Then they are taught science and geography to tell them the state of things and the world surrounding them, political science and economics to tell them the condition of their country, language and arts to install the creative side of things and help the right part of our brain develop.

All of this extensive knowledge can be put to great use if the student so wills.

Are you willing? There are a few things you mind need:

1. Courage. The world won’t see you as the first student-harbinger of change. It has seen countless before you, who’ve all put their share in up to some extent, and it will see countless after you who’ll think like you do for the betterment of the world.
2. Social Responsibility. Changing the world comes from changing the society, and changing the society comes from caring for the society. If the society doesn’t bother you, you won’t be motivated to change it. Another thing you’ll need to be a strong sense of social responsibility, which is, caring for the various constitutes of society.

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In the second post of this series of changing the world, we worked through the concept of indifference curve in economics and studied how we could incorporate the very same formula into our own expedition of changing the world. Read it here: How to Change the World With Philosophy and Math?

If students need to change, they’ll first have to realise what do they need in the world? What’s so bad about that it that needs to be eliminated? What’s something good that needs to added?

The answers to these questions will arrive not by looking outside into the world, but by peeking within our own selves to find out what things motivate us and might motivate others too. We have to identity our own passions and dreams and ideas.

As a writer, I want to change the world through my writing. Because I know that that’s what I’m good at and that’s what I want people to like me for.

So, the first exercise for students to take a step towards learning how can education change the world is to look inside and find out their own passions, the things that set their souls on fire, their purpose in life.

Everyone’s got a purpose in life, so if you aren’t found it out yet, maybe you should start searching.

The second step then would be to align our personal goals and dreams with what the world needs.

This step is where we take our purpose further ahead and showcase it to the world. Is there a global issue prevalent lately that you think you can have another take on? Is there something wrong about the world that you think you can provide the solution for? Even if there isn’t, you don’t need to get demotivated.

Every single one of us holds the potential to change ourselves and change the world. We need to recognise it. In whichever field of life you think you can contribute, start there.

If you can contribute in climate change, it’s your go-to. If you’re good at understanding the elements of potential hate and crime in the world and spreading awareness about it, do that; spread knowledge about the ill effects of hate and wars to those who don’t know it.

Talk about global issues such as poverty, world hunger, or health awareness, or terrorism, or violence. Speak up about human rights if you see injustice happening. Just…nothing too controversial. This is a triggering world we live in and even the smallest of acts or words can harm someone’s sentiments.

Make use of social media for the good. It’s a mass media tool that can help you spread your views like wildfire. We’ll talk more about it later in this post.

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Education is a blessing bestowed upon us by our parents, the government, or maybe we ourselves if we are self-reliant. Nonetheless, education is a blessing.

UNESCO reports that roughly 250 million children in the world are illiterate. If we are not among those unfortunate group, maybe it’s time to show our gratitude. We can, for instance, know what good we’re meant to do in the world.

Students can start by not getting distracted from the necessary studies and instead focusing on them for a portion of their life so that they can choose the pain of discipline over the pain of regret.

Hard choices lead to an easy life. If instead of partying on a Friday night, or watching movies on Saturday, you made it a priority to stay updated on your syllabus and complete all your assignments, then you’ll be ahead of ninety percent of people in your age group.

Education keeps us informed. Getting an education shapes us into individuals who are well-informed with the current affairs of the world, and who have been taught how to deal with situations with empathy and right-mindedness simultaneously.

A school provides us with innumerable opportunities to pave the way for a future that’s within our own hands. In a way, the school readies us for the real world. There are the know-it-all hard-workers who get As in every semester, there are also the bullies and the jerks, there are the lazy ones, the bad guys, the future leaders, the future followers to those leaders, and the kind, compassionate ones.

There’s everyone in real life. And we’ve gotta learn a way to deal with them in school where the environment is considerably safer and where the law works and where we’re protected by the authorities and more importantly our parents.

Then we grow up and are uninformed about the real matters of lifestyle and the society that surrounds us.

Education, as a matter of fact, prepares us for this day. The unfortunate thing is that many of the children in schools don’t realise this and instead waste away all their school years in mundane things.

As we already established, youth is wasted on the young.

School however, is not the only method of getting an education. Not especially in today’s modernised and technologized world where anything you want to learn is a click of a mouse away.

Don’t let schooling interfere with your education.

-Mark Twain

Get educated. Make that mind of yours work. Once you’ll pass college phase, you’ll be well into your adulthood, and everything won’t magically get easier. You’ll be in competition with 1.2 billion young people, still increasing. And with the pace with which things are changing right now, robots will be another level of competition entirely.

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Changing the world isn’t just internal. You’ll first train yourself and learn and absorb things, but there’ll be a time when you’ll have to put this knowledge to use to effectively speak up your views in front of the world.

• Communication skills. It’s hard making a crowd listen.

Being able to speak up in front of the without fainting in front of the microphone will be a task. It’s one skill you’ll need more than anything—the ability to speak up, and have a bold voice while doing so.

How can students do this? Make sure your voice is loud. When you speak, expect people to listen. Speak with the intention of saying something worthful, not just saying something.

And remember this more than anything: once you open your mouth, you tell the world who you are. You decide who that person is going to be or people are going to like him/her/them or not. It all starts with you.

• Writing skills. Of course you can’t always speak, can you?

Writing is an indispensable part of our education. It’s the second thing we’re taught when we become of learning age: how to form letters and then further make sentences.

Over the years we develop and master that technique until we’re confident that what we write or say through our words makes an impact. If you want to change the world, you have to convince the people. A method of doing that is to design persuasive messages and call to actions that make your readers sit at the edge of their seats with thrill.

Not just through your voice, but also through your written passages and powerful choice of words should you be able to convince the readers to join you in your journey of changing the world.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.

-Benjamin Franklin

• Collaboration skills. No man is an island. No man works alone.

No matter how big that success is, there’s always someone who’s had a hand in it too along with you, to make the dream come true. Change comes form a good leader. A good leader comes from a good team. A good teams works with the mentality that together everyone achieves more.

Henri Fayol put forth the term Esprit de Corps (Unity is Strength) among his fourteen principles of general administrative management. Unity is strength.

If you’re working with/or above a group of people, then you should understand soon enough that you might be the face of the movement, but the team will be the brain behind it.

A student should cultivate this habit within from the very beginning—the ability to lead and motivate a team.

So, these were the three essential components of the skill set that students need to change the world. Get mastery in the three of the above.

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We know education can change the society, but the first thing it’s got to do is spread its magic in the right neighbourhood.

Everything, as you’ve probably already guessed, starts from the local community. Be it a big, global, mass movement, or a simple rumour that the neighbour’s son stole the old lady’s cat just to spite her.

So, like all the great things in history, our epic movement will start from the neighbourhood too.

Go local. Our locality is what defines us. It’s what shapes us. It’s where we cam from, so it’s part of our past and will sometimes also be part of our future. What we see around, every day by the road on the mall, we become. So naturally, one powerful way of spreading your awareness and purpose locally is to talk about it with the neighbours.

It’s time to put your communication skills to use.

Approach someone you think you will have a good and decent conversation with, and ask them if they’ve got time to think about changing the world. Everyone thinks about changing the world. Some people just don’t see it ever becoming possible in their life, so they just give up midway. You’re not going to be one of them.

Talk about it with your parents, then your friends and relatives. Tell them about your plan of taking positive action for society and if they’re going to say that your dream is too big, you know what to say in return:

All you dreams are within reach, no matter how big or crazy they might seem.

Jeannette Maw

Personally, I feel like your like-minded friends and family are the best option; better than a random stranger in Walmart, at least. Tell them straightaway about what you plan to do and ask them if they’d like to join.

Someone would, someone surely would. Write and design posters. Hang them up on your school bulletin board and on malls to reach maximum audience. This is you building a team.

Once you get a team, even if it consists of two people only—it’s now time to get to action. Collaborate and make an action plan. Local issues are also important and need attention. There are things wrong with the world, but there are also things especially wrong with your immediate society—our neighbourhood.

Identify things that might need attention. If there’s something deemed wrong around you, for the love for yourself, speak up about it.

In your school, if you see something bad happening, step in. We’re not here to hide ourselves away or protect ourselves or stay quiet in front of jerks who roam around. We’re here to change the world and help everyone else change the world, and most of all, we’re here to do something that makes us feel proud of ourselves.

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Someone would think that social media is a bad influence on a student. All agreed, it’s practically like a black hole that sucks out all your creativity and imagination. It stops you from thinking for yourself because suddenly when you use social media it seems like this is all you ever needed and here are the answers to all your life problems.

Then you make friends, gain followers, post photos and reels about your life and ultimately, you become a part of 4.48 billion other people in the world who operate on an average some 6 social media accounts.

At first, all of it sounds too good. You’re happy and you feel like you’ve found your tribe. Then the depression sinks in. Comparison, jealousy, negativity, dissatisfaction, and thus unhappiness.

Since this is an article about how can education change the world and not how can we eliminate social media from our lives, we’ll majorly focus on how social media doesn’t only provide negative things in life. There are tons other good things too.

Social media increases reach. If you’re connected over the internet, you’ll share your views and thoughts with people there. Internet brings us closer, it diminishes the boundaries and limits of geography.

If instead of using this popular tool for wasting time and feeding our mindless desires, we use it for telling other students/elders in our community about our plans for changing the world, maybe we’ll actually get somewhere.

Technology increases efficiency. It’s a widely known fact that use of excessive technology and AI In creating content and generating ideas reduces authenticity because a human brain is not being used that much.

But at the same time, if technology is used in a limited manner with constant checks on when it starts to overpower us, we can make great use of it. Using the right technologized products and services at the right time for the right task by the right person, will only increase efficiency and the effectiveness of the goal.

I know this is a long chain, and sometimes finding all these right mediators in between can be hard, but changing the world was never going to be easy either.

Responsible use of social media and technology can go a long way.

We actually have so many tools and assets right in our hands that if used right and nice, students maybe can after all find a way to change the world.

After working locally and opposing wrong mentality and behaviour of your neighbourhood, it’s always time to think big. Gain a loyal following on social media sites, without depending on them for everything, and promote your ideology with all the people who think just like you. Write a good bio, a photo that smiles, posts and messages that are meaningful, (and try to stay out of controversies).

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Social media is not just to be used for promoting your brand or your ideas, it’s also to be used for following other ideas popular around you that might need your attention.

You’re not the only one who’s ever thought about changing the world, as I said. So if you find someone else around who thinks like you, connect.

Communicate with big organizations who also work towards the same goals.

Many companies take care of their social responsibilities and act for the society, and now it’s time for you to show them your respect. Follow and get inspired by some individual or organisation which plants trees, or uses bio-degradable items, or doesn’t hurt the environment, or someone who works for human rights, or human equality, or equating kindness in the world. If you’re feeling courageous enough, ask them if you can too become a part of the good work.

Learn from them. Find a way to join established movements and organizations. Or maybe oversee their work from the sides to plan ahead.

Students can amplify these existing efforts. The voice of the students matter, no matter how much someone doesn’t believe it to.

What the young generation says, people actually hear. At least the sensible ones do. The young generation speaking is like the future of this earth speaking.

These will be the future policy-makers and educators, the artists and professionals, the army officials and sports-people. Their voices and opinions matter, and, if spoken boldly and correctly, they are heard. Make good use of this superpower called youth.

If you connect to some organization and feel that you could be a part of them, write them an email if you want to. Reach out. Tell them you like their work. Maybe ask if it’s okay if you work with them too, if you could just speak about them on your social pages to reach maximum audience.

If it’s okay, then congrats, you just landed yourself a job—amplify the activities of this organization so that they reach more and more people and gain awareness.

However, keep in mind that different campaigns work for different causes. There are many things wrong with this world and everyone gotta correct something. To do this, choose the field where you thrive the most. It won’t do any good holding both the oars. Find that one passion and purpose, and then stick to it like a leech.

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Overcoming the challenges that come with changing the world is not going to be easy. It’s never going to be easy.

The first step of solving any problem is accepting that there is a problem. It’s acknowledging that things are wrong with the condition you’re in and it’s determining that you’re going to battle this to your utmost potential.

A student changing the world will be made fun of. Students are meant to go to school, study, make their parents proud and if their dreams are big enough, bring honour to their country.

No one thinks about a student changing the world. Not even students themselves. If you’re one among a thousand who’s had this dream of changing the current prevailing situation of the world dominated by hate, war, poverty, inequality, hunger, violence, depression, then it’s now time to be unafraid in your pursuit of it.

There’ll be obstacles and setbacks along the way, and maybe you’ll have to try too many times before you get anywhere far. Maybe you’ll have to try again and again because it won’t be achieved in one go.

For those times all students must remember the qualities of a great leader and an intelligent person: resilience, tact, sensibility, discipline, multitasking, positivity, health and happiness.

Even when things will look down, it’s necessary for students to look up. That’s how a student changes the world.

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1. Youth is wasted on the young, but if the young is sensible and intelligent then it’s not hard for them to realise their true potential. The energy of young age should be used not on mindless tasks and thoughts, but on productive and big dreams. The biggest productive and meaningful dream you’ll ever come across is of changing the world.
2. The first thing you should do once you get old enough to think for yourself, is to find your purpose in life. All the people in the world have ultimate purposes in life. Everyone’s got a reason. This reason will then be aligned with what the world needs. Align your dreams with big world problems and think of ways to make a change.
3. Get educated. It’s the most powerful weapon you’ll ever find in your pursuit of changing the world. School doesn’t equal education; education is vast and diverse and comes useful all throughout your life, nothing can change that. Your school degree isn’t really helpful much after you pass college.
4. Develop various skills: communication, creativity and collaboration. Learn effective communication techniques so that when you talk, people listen. Make your words matter. Start thinking creatively and learn to put thoughts into words. Writing is an art that relaxes the mind and helps us resolve our complex thinking threads. Work in teams, make yourself capable of being a leader. A team manager learns to plan, organize, direct and control. Foster these skills.
5. Start from the person sitting next to you. Neighbourhood comes first and foremost. Don’t think about the world right now. Start from the neighbourhood, put your plan to action, share your ideas with people and see how they reciprocate. The world is a small town, be nice to everyone. Try finding the problems with your community, and work towards correcting them like you’re correcting the whole world.
6. Social media plays a role. If used rightly, it works wonders. Use the different internet and technology tools to gain the company of people who think just like you and want to act towards accomplishing the same objectives. Start making good use of these gifts of technology.
7. Join existing big movements and organizations, show them your support and love through their social media accounts and by writing creative emails. Help wherever you can. Use your bold and young voice to motivate more people to accompany you in your good mission. Remember that students can change the world, definitely, and undoubtedly.
8. Understand that your pursuit isn’t going to be an easy task. Be ready to face obstacles in the way and battle them responsibly. Own your actions. If you hurt someone while doing something, apologize. Don’t get too carried away when you become a part of something so much bigger than you, stay humble and modest. Never let it get to your head. Prosperity will follow.

Education Changes Society

And education is right within your grip. Just look around, live your life, be observant and never let a day go by where you don’t elevate your life and yourself in some way, no matter how small it might seem.

If one student acts, the others follow. Just like a butterfly effect, like faint ripples in a water, if one change, despite how minuscule and undeniably trivial, occurs, another change, maybe slightly bigger in size, follows.

This goes on. This is how the world is changed.

Did you know that you can change the world right now, when you’re probably in bed or sitting on your sofa or your chair. You can bring a positive change to an extent right now by simply sharing this blog with your family and friends. Let them in on your big dreams. Let them know what epic plan you’re thinking about. Make them a part of your epic journey of changing the world and spelling #lifewithaway.

The secret to changing the world is on building the new, not breaking the old. What is it that you’re building this time?

Mark Twain said that you should not let your school interfere with your education. Here’s what I say: 15 Unique Ways to (Over) Educate Yourself. Check them out.