The Importance of Education

A scene from Hillbilly Elegy that stuck with me is when Vance’s grandmother buys him the $100 calculator despite not being in a financially stable state. Maybe it's from growing up in a household with a mother who’s a math teacher, and always made sure that my sisters and I had calculators for school, and included calculators for my school’s Operation Santa. Or perhaps that for the first time in Vance’s life there was an adult looking out for his future, and assuring he had the materials needed to succeed. 

Vance’s upbringing was not effortless, and while he did not write this book as a woeful, self-pitying tale, but instead to shed light on the hillbilly culture, I could not help but feel moved by the profound impact Vance’s grandmother had on him. Just one person was all needed for Vance to become inspired and begin to take his education seriously. Vance grandmother’s value of education paved the way for Vance to continue onto higher education and attain a law degree. Perhaps a new emphasis on education in less financially stable communities can change the shortcomings of hillbilly culture. 


The importance of education, and ideal instilled in me from childhood, is an ideal I cherish and advocate for. A math teacher for a mother and a professor for a father, my parents never shied from the opportunity to tell me how crucial an education is. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy brought awareness to the short comings in hillbilly culture, and the need for actual change, not change for only a week or two. 

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