The Influence of Education
by Izaak Garcia
The spread of information is a skill that humans above all have perfected, yet still have so far to go. From mainstream media outlets to newspaper stands on the street corner, sharing information is one of the essential ways that people can see what is happening outside of their own lives. But information, in this case, is not always power. With a multitude of news outlets reporting on events happening in our country and around the world, we are bound to come across one or two who are not telling the whole story, or even spreading the wrong one.
Trying to discern which stories are correct and factual and which are not is not an easy task. More than likely, when a news outlet is sharing a story, they might not be giving the public all the details. So how can we, as the general public, ensure that we are being well informed, and not misled? We must question the information given to us by the media and ask ourselves: is it what we want to hear, or what we need to hear?
The question of what our community truly needs most is one asked by almost every single person who cares about their community and what happens to it. Obtaining this piece of information isn’t rocket science, but what is rocket science, or close to it, is actually doing something about it and making the change that you would like to see. Determining what a community needs is not just a ‘one size fits all’ kind of deal because communities across the United States (and frankly the world) are not the same. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, differences in our communities gives our world its unique diversity. Otherwise, we would just be a copy of one another, everyone being exactly the same, living the exact same way, and doing the exact same thing.
So, the question arises again: “What does our community need most?” Some could say a community needs a basketball court or a soccer field for kids. Others may say that they need more affordable housing so a person who is not as fortunate as another has a place to stay for the night, and the night after that, and hopefully for many more nights. The point that is being made here is that the needs of a certain community vary everywhere you go, whether it be across the country, or just a few blocks over. But it is the community that must determine what it needs most—and to do that, the community must be educated. With knowledge comes great opportunity, and with that given opportunity, the people can determine what their community needs most because they are the only people who can.
About Izaak Garcia
Izaak Garcia is currently a senior at Richwoods High School, enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program. After high school, Garcia plans to study Computer Science. He has played soccer with FC Peoria and Richwoods for over a decade combined. Garcia has also played tennis for 4 years, securing a spot on both junior varsity and varsity teams. Along with this, he has competed with the Richwoods Worldwide Youth Science and Engineering team for Biology and Computer Science for 2 years and earned multiple awards for the school. Garcia is also heavily involved with the arts. As a multi-instrumentalist, he has played the saxophone for 8 years and piano for 2 years. During his junior year of high school, he was involved in theater at Richwoods as stage crew and manager. He helped with two total productions and was being trained to be stage manager for senior year before the COVID-19 pandemic impacted school. Outside of school activities, Garcia is involved in Jack and Jill of America (an organization for young African American men and women to serve the community). He served as his chapter’s treasurer during his freshman year of high school. Along with Jack and Jill of America, he enjoys coding, learning new coding languages, and video games.