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Newly Graduated People Wearing Black Academy Gowns Throwing Hats Up in the Air
Newly Graduated People Wearing Black Academy Gowns Throwing Hats Up in the Air
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St. John's | Life > Academics

Why Pursuing Higher Education Should Be Seen As A Top Priority

Amelia-Rose Williams Student Contributor, St. John's University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St. John's chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

By: Amelia-Rose Williams

I was raised in a family of matriarchs. I was taught that what made a strong woman was not just her heart but her brain. 

When my family migrated from Jamaica and England to America, their main priority was always education. My mom finished all her schooling in England before coming to America, while my father finished high school in Jamaica to continue his education in America, becoming an alum of St. John’s University. 

My grandmother on my father’s side worked so that all of her children could come to the United States to achieve opportunities that she didn’t have. She continued to work for her certifications while balancing the funds and patience needed to go through the legal process of migrating to this country. 

Her strength and determination always inspired me to prioritize and fight for my education. We live in a troubling economic state right now, socially, politically, and educationally. Which collectively has made pursuing higher education more difficult and emotionally taxing.

As a woman, higher education has always been a top priority because there are so many cases of women staying in unfortunate and horrible situations because they don’t have any means of escaping those abusive environments. It’s heartbreaking that you have to choose to be somewhere you’re not wanted. 

Which is why, as I get older, I continue to advocate for young girls and young women to have a plan. With all of these current issues, a lot more men have become conservative and with that, they are pushing this ideology that women should be in the home.

I’m not saying that if you want a traditional family you can’t have one, but I’m saying that you should always have a backup plan. Most women of our grandmothers’, great-grandmothers’, or even our own mothers’ generation trusted that they would be “taken care of”, only for a lot of them to be faced with divorce, cheating, or abuse and have no way out. 

I say this with all of my heart: please have a plan. Even if you never end up using it, it’s always helpful to know that you have a resource that can be used in case anything were to occur. Education is a promise to the future that you could have. It can change your life and help you when you least expect it.

Amelia-Rose Williams

St. John's '28

Amelia-Rose Williams is a third-year student at St. John's University in Queens. She majors in legal studies and has a minor in fashion studies. Her hope is to become a corporate lawyer, specializing in fashion law. Topics that are of the most interest to her include: fashion, film, art, pop culture, and true crime. During her third year writing for Her Campus, St. John’s chapter, she looks to expand her editorial skills and continue to write about what is most passionate to her.