Redesigning Education: Empowering Every Student to Thrive by Noah

Redesigning Education: Empowering Every Student to Thrive by Noah - September 2025 Scholarship Essay

Education is more than simply memorizing facts; it is a process that enables children and adolescents to acquire knowledge and skills, develop values, and cultivate the ability to think critically and creatively. Education enables students to develop their curiosity, communication, and problem-solving skills, preparing them not just for tests but for life. Over the next ten years, I want to see an education system that embraces inclusion for special needs students, prioritizes mental health, closes the digital divide, and connects classroom learning to the real world.

Unlike many high schoolers whose first sport was basketball or football, I began my athletic journey playing unified tennis, partnering with athletes who had various special needs. I remember rallying under the autumn sun, celebrating each point as if it were a championship. Being able to relate to students I rarely interacted with enlightened me to an understanding that special needs shouldn’t be regarded as disabilities but rather different abilities that can bring joy, perspective, and diversity in the court and beyond. Unified Tennis also taught me that inclusion isn’t simply about making space, but also recognizing the value in every person’s unique ability, which is a perspective that needs to be more prevalent in the education system. I believe students with special needs to have more representation in school leadership, stronger IEPs tailored to their actual abilities, and classrooms that value their voice and presence instead of merely trying to accommodate them. For example, I want to see classrooms where students with autism present group projects among students with and without special needs. I want to see students with OCD or ADHD have a role on the student advisory board to voice their concerns to the rest of the student body. With the right tools and support, I aim to see schools become architects of equality and equity for students with diverse abilities.

Another change I want to see made in education is for schools to place greater emphasis on fostering emotional and mental health. It is imperative for schools to incorporate emotional literacy into the standard classroom curriculum, delegate quiet rooms for students to take a breath and unwind during school hours, and hire dedicated school psychologists to be available throughout the day for students to address issues that may be bothering them. With rising rates of anxiety, depression, and other mental health ailments among youth, mental health in the education system must be treated as an ongoing priority, not simply after a tragedy or traumatic event takes place. It must be incorporated into the very fabrics of school life.

Technology is another growing concern in the school system that must be properly addressed. The COVID-19 pandemic made the possession of quality technological devices essential to the furtherance of educational learning. The shutdown revealed a deep digital divide, where we saw students without access to Wi-Fi or quality devices fall behind in their educational development. And even today, as students return to school, a lot of instruction, resources, and opportunities for students to succeed are found online, which puts students without technology access at a huge disadvantage. In this modern era, where most jobs currently utilize some form of computers and technology in their daily functions, students who don’t learn even basic computing skills will have a huge disadvantage in the job market of the future. I want to see a national mandate for schools to provide access, as well as free training, to digital devices as a basic right, not a privilege. This will further advance educational equality, so that whether students live in a big city or a rural town, they will have access to the same resources.

Finally, I want the next decade of education to bring a stronger connection between classroom learning and the real world. One consistent complaint many students have with the education system can be summed up in, “When am I ever going to use this in the real world?” Schools should incorporate real-world project-based learning based on concepts or topics learned in the classroom. This could include grocery shopping after lessons about managing finances or budgets, working with local community leaders to build civic engagement based on information learned from a government class, or using knowledge from science to help plant trees or advocate for environmental sustainability. By combining academics with real-world applications, schools can ensure that every student leaves with more than just knowledge to regurgitate on a test, but the confidence and experience needed to shape the future and enact real-world change.

If we can foster an education system committed to inclusion, mental well-being, digital access, and real-world learning, we can create schools where every student leaves not just with knowledge, but with purpose.