David Foster Wallace's Essay To Receive A Higher Education

The expectation of going to college to receive a higher education is placed upon every adolescent after they graduate from high school. Throwing up one’s cap and receiving a diploma seems bittersweet, as it is a reward and documentation of completing the thirteen required years of basic education, however, one is thrown the burden of adulthood at them afterwards. The two plausible roads to take after graduating is to endure stress-inducing college or find a decent job that can support oneself. I, like many of my peers, chose the former. We assume a college education only gives us the necessities for a career, however, it also challenges our awareness. As David Foster Wallace states in his acclaimed commencement speech from 2005, “[education] isn’t really about the capacity to think, but rather about the choice of what to think about.” In other words, education is not measured in how much knowledge one possesses, but rather, it is about how one thinks. This is where the education system is flawed and at …show more content…
Throughout the essay, Wallace discusses the idea of awareness and incorporates it cohesively. The examples used are modern and surprisingly relatable, especially the grocery store one. I have the same sour attitude in stores crowded with people, believing that they are all in my way. Of all the sections of this speech, the ending would have to be my favorite. Using the “this is water” relation to awareness was clever and consistent in a sense that it relates to the fish story he used at the beginning. The conclusion ties together the entire speech, as it summarizes the entire point of the speech – “education really is the job of a lifetime.” One’s education does not stop after college because we constantly apply what we learn day-in and day-out to our lives. Overall, the speech delivers a message that resonates with the listener and makes them reconsider their way of