"Why is education important?" essay for an application, thought AM mgiht like it :)

Young girls in today's society are very susceptible to suggestion, especially girls in the inner cities. They not only have to listen to what is thrown at them by television, magazines, movies, trendy books, school teachers, parents, and by fellow young girls, but they also have to try to figure out what is wrong and what is right. So how do we prevent all this information from confusing and corrupting the young girls of our country? The answer is education. In schools and at home, girls need to learn that the education provided for them can carry them much further than anything else.

Girls need to learn they are equal to boys. They can learn anything boys can learn and can succeed just as easily. Girls need to learn confidence and self-respect, self-esteem and self-worth, all great qualities that often come through learning experiences at school. Girls can also learn these qualities through historical examples of great and powerful women like Queen Hatshepsut who had to pretend to be a man to be allowed to rule Egypt without a husband; Joan of Arc who single-handedly led the French army in several victories during the Hundred Years War; Queen Elizabeth I of England who founded the Church of England and led England into a Golden Age of prosperity; and Marie Curie, a Polish physicist who made great breakthroughs in the field of radioactivity. These women were proud of who they were, sure of their goals in life, and stood against much adversity because they were women. They used their knowledge to achieve their goals and to better this world. Women today are still learning to reach their goals, still learning they are equal to men, like the first female president of Argentina to be elected: Cristina Fernandez. She came from a humble family and a small city but she used her education in law to become the first elected female president of Argentina. She uses her power to better her country and her community and not for political gain, she uses her education and her caring heart to improve herself and an entire nation. If President Fernandez can do that, than our girls in the United States are capable of much more, if only they would appreciate the power of education.
Public schools offer state provided education with some of the best trained teachers in the country. Education provides girls with endless information and opportunities to grow, not only as students but as people. Education gives girls confidence and the knowledge to do things they could never dream of before. In school, girls learn more than just class lessons, they learn compassion for others, selflessness, integrity, self-respect, trustworthiness and humility. If girls could take advantage of these life lessons and realize that their education is the most valuable tool they posses, then the girls who think they have the leas amount of impact on their communities will bring forth the greatest changes in the world.