DEAR EDITOR:

Education is the key to all doors of opportunities, and forms the map to guide us through the maze of roads in our lives. It frees us from poverty, if we are poor, and gives us better insight and appreciation, if we were born rich. Education has no boundaries and no expiration dates. We often wrongly equate poverty as a cause of lack of education. The myth has been repeated so much, and for so long, that we actually believe it. Started from humble beginnings are:

Abraham Lincoln, Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, Larry Ellison, CEO of the giant software, Oracle, Fei-Fei Li, famous scientist of A.I. The list is endless. I must add, yours truly, born in a small village in Yemen, with no electricity, running water, cars, phones, and often not enough food. But because of education, I am here writing this letter to the editor of The Vindicator, sharing my thoughts, with those who may think they are too poor to reach goals and fulfill dreams.

The small list above, and all those who have left their marks in history, share the following characteristics: “vision to see, faith to believe, and courage to act.” They visualized their future, and what they wanted to be. They had a strong desire and faith in themselves that they could do what they had visualized, and the courage to persevere.

Yesterday, I received a handwritten, inspiring letter from a senior student at the Mahoning Valley Community School for “dropouts.” This “dropout” young lady has a goal, that after graduating in May, she will go to college and become an astrophysicist. Yes, I wrote back to her, and told her that by all means, to go for it! She could do it!

As humans, we are like water, or trees, we are never happy until we reach our own level. It does not have to be president, or scientist. It could be a carpenter, plumber, electrician, or a garbage collector, as long as we become the best we can be, in whatever we do. Yes, a garbage collector. Tim Russert, started as garage collector, but he sought his level, earned a law degree, and later, became a famous anchor for CBS “Meet the Press,” for many years, until he died in 2008. Every time I have a plumber in my house, I stand at awe, and admire the skill required to do the job well, a skill I do not have. A tree-service crew came to prune large maple trees in my yard. I marveled at how powerful machines, sharp saws, high left, synchronized to reach high up, and cut large limbs with precision, something I could never do. They were proud of and happy with the end results.

Education is the only investment that guarantees returns. It should be our first and most important investment. Be the best you can be, and you will be happy and free.

RASHID ABDU, MD

Canfield