The Importance of “An Education”

I wasn’t quite sure what to address in my inaugural blog post. All I knew was that I didn’t want to write about anything remotely related to COVID. There will be plenty of time to reflect and regroup after a very difficult year for everyone, and the requisite admissions and application insight will come soon enough. Instead, I’d like to start with something a little more foundational, which requires going back to a slightly simpler time. 

During my second year in college counseling, the movie “An Education” was released. “An Education” featured Carey Mulligan’s breakout performance as Jenny Mellor, a teenager from the London suburbs with aspirations to attend Oxford University. I will spare you the weirder details of the central plot, which involves Jenny being courted by a charming and much older man. What you should know is that Jenny is the class know-it-all (except in Latin), a competent and possibly reluctant cellist, and seemingly well on her way to accomplishing her goal. But underneath her serenity, it would become evident that her life was “hard and boring.” The film has always resonated with me throughout my college counseling career because despite the 1960s London setting, there are so many elements that reflect what I imagine many high school students around the world continue to experience. 

Early in the film, Jenny and her new suitor-friend discuss why she plays a musical instrument but doesn’t attend concerts, revealing the sheltered nature of her life. She then declares in a moment of clarity, “If I go to University, I’m going to read what I want and listen to what I want, and I’m going to look at paintings and watch French films, and I’m going to talk to people who know lots about lots.” There’s quite a bit to digest there. First is the word “if.” Perhaps it’s a subtle reminder that going to university should not be considered an inevitability. Interpreted a different way, maybe the university is referring solely to Oxford, a recurring conversation in the Mellor household. The idea that Oxford is the only school that can offer the opportunities she seeks is problematic to say the least. At one point, Jenny’s father contends that “they don’t want rebels at Oxford,” and she responds sarcastically, “No, they don’t want people who can think for themselves.” When her father frowns upon Jenny’s friend’s plans to take a year off to travel, it’s further indicative that her path has been set. Jenny does have clear interests, yet she feels trapped in her current circumstances. 

“If I go to University, I'm going to read what I want and listen to what I want, and I'm going to look at paintings and watch French films, and I'm going to talk to people who know lots about lots.” - Jenny Mellor, “An Education”

Jenny eventually gets to experience various social and cultural adventures with some of her new friends, to the obliviousness of her parents and to the dismay of her English teacher. Her jaunt around Paris in particular was a Francophile second semester senior’s fantasy. But then it becomes clearer why these experiences were so appealing to her to begin with. She never struck me as stubbornly rebellious or angry with the world. She just wanted to do things she actually enjoyed doing, otherwise known as having fun. Maybe on a deeper level, she also never really felt a sense of purpose. I could be reaching here. But during her pivotal “hard and boring” scene with the headmaster, she ended her rant with what I perceive to be a dormant anthem among young people today—“It’s not enough to educate us anymore…You’ve got to tell us why you’re doing it!” 

What is the importance of “An Education,” or more specifically, your education? I hope you recognize that it will come in several forms and sometimes in surprising ways. In your college academic life, I encourage you to “study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent, and original way possible,” as theoretical physicist Richard Feynman once said. You will have a much richer college experience if you work towards a purpose and not as a series of obligations, but let’s also be reasonable. You still have to do your homework. Just continue asking yourself why you are doing the things you do, because your plans may change. And if they do, it will only be for the better. Also, be sure to talk to people who know lots about lots. This might happen during a class discussion, with a professor during office hours, or in the dorms with your moderately lucid hallmates at 3 AM. Interacting with people from diverse backgrounds will help you appreciate and respect other perspectives while teaching you how to think for yourself, even if it brings out your more rebellious side from time to time. In my view, that is the most significant value an education can instill.

Jenny Mellor is not a perfect student and “An Education” is far from a perfect film, but I still find them both to be as relatable as ever. It seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same. But if we aspire to be lifelong learners and appreciate the intellectual freedom and responsibility that accompany that identity, maybe that can provide us with a healthier outlook, even during the most difficult times.