Education is not a question of facts; education is about knowledge, the application of information and the exchange of ideas. Education can be formal (from school) or informal (from TV shows, books, friends, etc.). I prefer not to call the school ineffective, because I have a degree in education, but to be honest, what we are doing is not working. Traditionally, it is taught that if you go to school and work hard, you will succeed. However, this is partly false: there is no single path to success. My definition of education is inspired by my experience translating the song “Where is the Love” by the Black Eyed Peas. Malcolm The way he says it can be a little misleading; it almost seems as if Malcolm X innocently wanted to learn a few words. However, X didn't just want to learn the meaning of these words: he wanted to learn how to use them. X's experience is similar to mine when performing the song; Before I could translate the song, I had to learn what it meant. American Sign Language is unique in that it is about expressing an emotion and a concept, so each sign can take on its own inflection. Because ASL is about the big picture, I couldn't translate the song word for word. I had to look at it as a whole and read how the writers felt creating the song. It is knowledge; the who, the what, the where, the when, the why and the how. Translating a song involves a certain amount of interpretation; it’s not just about what the writer wanted. Translating a song is how I feel, as a listener, about the song, and what the song does...... middle of paper ...... a quote from Fran Lebowitz , in its entirety, is: “In real life, I assure you, algebra does not exist.” I take this quote to mean that one cannot simply "plug in" information to get the answers to one's problems in life. Schools teach students knowledge, but they almost never teach them how to apply what they have learned in their lives, which is one of the faults of schools. It comes down to simply knowing the facts; knowing only the facts is like eating raw meat, but no way to cook it! It is important to know things, but you also need to be able to put this knowledge into practice. Schools should encourage students to have life experiences, because that is how we learn to actually use what we have learned. Schools provide a basic education, but there is much more to learn outside of school - and what is learned outside of school is a major factor in success..