More educational institutions ought to follow Messiah University’s example and welcome students who require financial assistance as well as a little motivation and support to pursue their studies.
All of that and more is available to residents of our area through Messiah University’s Homer Course in the Humanities. For this, the university is deserving of praise. It provides a tuition-free opportunity for those from low-income or educationally underprivileged backgrounds to feel included on college campuses. since they do.
At one of the most prestigious colleges in our area, a number of these kids who had their education disrupted this week completed the prerequisites for college credits. Without the tremendous help of the Messiah University faculty and staff, as well as the grant from the Lawrence L. and Julia Z. Hoverter Charitable Foundation, it would not have been feasible.
If every institution of higher learning in our region had such a way of reaching out to help people determined to better themselves, imagine the impact it could have to lift countless families out of poverty or free them from a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle.
We are all aware that education is essential to both prosperity in the United States and general well-being. We all know that even the most intelligent young people can get lost in their academic pursuits. One of the best things about this country is that anyone who dropped out can return to school, whether in person or online. To apply for the Hoverter Course, you only need to be older than eighteen.
Consider a single mother wishing she could return to school while attempting to raise her two children. She is able to attend free university lessons in the evenings thanks to Messiah’s Hoverter course, which also offers childcare. They even hold the classes in Harrisburg and provide free books.
Sure, she ll be bone tired at the end of the day filled with work and study, but it s the promise of a better life that provides the motivation to push past exhaustion.
The Hoverter Course is beneficial to more than just ladies. A young man was among those who completed the most recent course. He said he had been a straight-A student before he dropped out of high school. He was among those accepting honors for completing the course this week. Instead of facing a lifetime of menial jobs, low-wage jobs, he now can tout his experience as a college student.
But more than just bragging about college credits, these students learn to think deeply and critically about some of the most pressing issues of our day. They learn about history, great literature, and philosophy. They learn about the joy of reading and discussing great ideas, and they learn about ethical thinking, doing what is right and honoring truth.
Most of all, they learn to express their own thoughts and to be nobody s fool. In this modern-day world of misinformation and scams, that may be the most important lesson of all.
The hope is that those who complete the Hoverter Course will continue to get a bachelor s degree or more. But even if they don t, Messiah University s Hoverter Course has opened a door to higher education that will forever remain open.
The university is now recruiting for the 2025 Hoverter course that will be held in Harrisburg. You can applyhere:https://www.messiah.edu/forms/form/516/en/1/hoverter_course_application.
Joyce M. Davis is PennLive s Outreach & Opinion Editor. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter @byjoycedavis.
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