How much do you value your ability and freedom to read and write and get an education? Most of us probably don’t stop to think about it. We have grown up in a country where an education is provided free to every American. And not only provided but required. We take it for granted. It’s unfortunately true that there are vast differences in public schools, and very poor areas lack newer textbooks and technology. Educators very often use their own money to purchase supplies for their students. Children sometimes consider it a miracle just to survive the day.

That all said, there is no one denying any of us an education, except ourselves. The recent article about the failure rate of certain classes is a sad statement. I’m the first to admit that I am not and never will be a mathematical genius. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses, and it’s a rare individual who excels in every subject all of the time. But I don’t remember anyone ever telling me that learning would be easy. We are really limited only by what we ask of ourselves. We need to look within and determine our own worth. If we tell ourselves that we’ll never be good at anything then we limit the possibilities of greatness to which we can aspire.

Yesterday I read a short piece in a newspaper about an 85-year-old man who was finally given the opportunity to get an education so he enrolled in elementary school to learn how to read and write. He was never able to get an education all these years because he was too poor to afford the fees his nation charged for primary school. Just think about that for a minute. That’s determination and a belief that he is worth the effort.

If someone forbade you to read a particular book or study a subject because you were too stupid to understand it anyway, you’d get angry. Really angry. If you’re anything like me, you’d die proving them wrong. When you say those words to yourself, you’re doing the same thing. We all need to decide that we are worth the best of everything that we can be.

One thing we Americans are good at and dearly love is a challenge.

Let anyone tell us that something is impossible, and we will proceed to do the impossible. We won’t take no for an answer. If something can’t be accomplished one way, then we’ll find another. So why do we limit ourselves and our daily lives to mediocrity? Fight for yourself, your education and your worth. Fight for your place in this world. And don’t take no for an answer.