Education is not about facts; education is about knowledge, the application of information and the exchange of ideas. Education can be formal (from school) or informal (from television programs, books, friends or etc.). I'd rather not call the school ineffective, since I specialize in education, but to be honest, what we're doing isn't working. Traditionally it is taught that if you go to school and work hard you will be successful. However, this is partly wrong: 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 like Malcolm X simply wants to innocently learn a few words. X, however, 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 in interpreting the song; Before I could translate the song, I had to learn its meaning. 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. Since ASL is about the big picture, I couldn't translate the song word for word, instead: I had to look at it as a whole and read what the writers felt as they wrote the song. This 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 intended. Translating a song is about how I, as a listener, feel about the song and what the song does to me… middle of paper… a quote from Fran Lebowitz, in its entirety, is : “In real life, you I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra.” I take this quote to mean that you cannot simply "plug in" information to get answers to your problems in life. Schools teach students knowledge, but they hardly teach them how to apply what they have learned in their lives, which is one of the shortcomings of schools. This is similar to simply knowing the facts; knowing only the facts is like having raw meat, but no way to cook it! It is important to know things, but you also need to know how to apply this knowledge. Schools should encourage students to gain life experiences, because that is how they learn to actually put what they learn into practice. Schools provide a basic education, but there is much more to learn outside of school and what you learn outside of school is an important factor in deciding success.