This week in GOALS our theme was about education, both analyzing our amazing opportunities from our education compared to other people and places in the world as well as expanding our own knowledge. After giving the girls some background information on the inspirational Malala Yousafzai, we analyzed her statement that “In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It’s their normal life. But in other parts of the world, we are starving for education…it’s like a precious gift. It’s like a diamond.” After asking the girls what this quote meant to them, one girl replied that people in other places don’t have schools like we do. As this is absolutely correct, we shifted our analysis to why Malala considers education as so important, especially for women. According to ABC News, “Globally, 65 million girls are not in school,” and “there are 33 million fewer girls than boys in primary school.” Based on these statistics and tremendous amounts of research on education for girls, it is apparent that we are experiencing a worldwide crisis on educating girls to lead successful lives. This fight for equal education is far from over, as Malala was shot for continuing to retain a basic education at school because she is a girl.  Through her quote, we see that education is precious, especially in places such her home, Pakistan, where groups of people believe that women should not be educated. We compared this to our own situation, where most kids dread going to school at least once a week.  Realizing how we take our education for granted, we talked about how education allows us to be capable and have options in life. In contrast, remaining uneducated disables people so that they commonly land in a low paying, often arduous, work that makes it hard to support themselves.  Education is vital, and we need to use our resources to the fullest extent as well as help increase the education of those around us if we have the means. For this day, we used the rest of our time to enhance our knowledge. We first played two group games that practiced fractions as well as expanded vocabulary.  The remaining part of our time was obligated to the girls’ homework.  We had a wonderful time together as the girls were very animated, had numerous insights on women’s education, and gained another perspective on the importance of valuing and expanding the quality and availability of education around the world. low paying, often arduous, work that makes it hard to support themselves.  Education is vital, and we need to use our resources to the fullest extent as well as help increase the education of those around us if we have the means. For this day, we used the rest of our time to enhance our knowledge. We first played two group games that practiced fractions as well as expanded vocabulary.  The remaining part of our time was obligated to the girls’ homework.  We had a wonderful time together as the girls were very animated, had numerous insights on women’s education, and gained another perspective on the importance of valuing and expanding the quality and availability of education around the world.

-Ellora E.