Space and Education

The variety, quantity, and scope of spaces in which a person can inhabit are integral to a person’s success. A person’s education, which is directly correlated to a person’s triumphs, is greatly determined by the space in which it occurs. A public school education can vary greatly depending on the recourses and opportunities available from place to place.

In the 1800‘s the amount of spaces a person could inhabit were limited. The few spaces a person could inhabit directly correspond with the quality and rigor of education received. This idea was displayed in Jane Austen’s Emma. In the novel, Emma Woodhouse was educated by Miss Taylor, her governess. The education Emma received was, for the most part, based off of the extent of Miss Taylor’s education. Being educated by a governess a was standard practice in that time that has since become obsolete because it is not fair to have one’s education limited by the the limited education of just one other person. Since Emma’s space was so limited, so too was her education. Due to the scarce amount of spaces Emma could be in, the quality of education she received, when compared to the education that woman receive today, was not very high. Limited spaces limited Emma Woodhouses’s education.

I, as a 21st century woman, inhabit numerous more spaces then Emma Woodhouse did in the 1800’s. Since there is much more mobility of people among spaces, ideas are spread more easily. The widespread knowledge has allowed the quality of education to increase since the time Emma was written. The amount of spaces I can be in have greatly assisted my success in life. Before college, I lived in a suburb of Atlanta with my family. That opportunities available in that space allowed me to receive a very high quality of education. Since I lived in a comparably affluent area where many of the residents would consider themselves successful, I had the ground-work to be successful myself.

Where I grew up and received my primary education greatly determined the opportunities available for me in terms of secondary education. Living so close to a major metropolitan area opened up that space for me. I am currently being educated at the seventh best public university in the nation. That wouldn’t have been possible had I not been inhabiting successful spaces for the majority of my life. I consider obtaining an education to be one of the most important aspects of my life, and the caliber of education I am receiving would not have been possible had I not inhabited spaces that allowed me to do so.

Emma Woodhouse was not able to inhabit very many spaces, which lead to her limited education. The amount of spaces that I can inhabit; however, is virtually unlimited, and I have received an extensive education so far. I hope that one day I will consider my life to be successful. When that happens, I will attribute that to my work ethic, my perseverance, and the spaces I have inhabited in my life.

Austen, Jane. Emma. New York: Penguin. 1815.Woolf, Virginia.