No one should be denied the opportunity to get an education and

Hear, O seekers of wisdom, and attend to the words of Congressman Bobby Scott, who once declared: “No one should be denied the opportunity to get an education and increase their earning potential based solely on their inability to pay for a college education.” These words rise like a beacon from the heart of justice, proclaiming a truth as old as the human struggle: that the flame of knowledge must not be dimmed by the chains of poverty. For what is education if not the gateway to freedom, the bridge from shadows into light, the instrument by which a soul may climb beyond its birth and taste the fullness of its potential?

In the ancient times, the sages taught that knowledge is the one treasure that cannot be stolen, the one wealth that increases as it is shared. Yet in the modern age, this treasure has been guarded by walls of gold, so that those without coin are left to watch from afar, yearning for the feast of learning but denied a seat at the table. Bobby Scott’s words burn against such injustice, reminding us that opportunity must not be sold to the highest bidder, for the spirit of a human being cannot be measured by the weight of their purse.

Consider, then, the story of Booker T. Washington, who was born into slavery yet walked hundreds of miles to attend the Hampton Institute. He came with little more than determination and hunger for learning, and though he arrived ragged and weary, his will could not be refused. By laboring as a janitor and student, he seized the key of education and rose to become a leader of his people. If even he, burdened by chains from birth, could ascend when given a chance, how many others might rise if only the gates of knowledge stood open for all?

But reflect also on the countless unnamed, whose dreams withered for lack of means. How many young hearts have been denied the chance to sharpen their minds because tuition weighed too heavily upon their families? How many voices, filled with songs of invention and visions of progress, fell silent, unheard by the world? These silent tragedies are the hidden cost of a society that sells its schools rather than offering them as sacred wells of life.

The teaching of this quote, then, is not merely about earning potential, though indeed education may lift a man or woman from the dust of poverty to the dignity of self-sufficiency. It is about justice, about the right of every soul to unfold its divine possibilities. To deny education for want of wealth is to trample upon the seed before it has a chance to bear fruit. And a land that denies its children such growth robs not only them, but itself, for the nation is impoverished when its people are left unfulfilled.

Let this, then, be the lesson to all who hear: guard not the gates of learning with iron locks of coin, but open them wide, that every child, every dreamer, every seeker may pass through. For in their learning, the whole of society is lifted, and the weakest among us may become the strongest, if only we give them the chance.

And what, dear listener, can you do? Though you may not write the laws of the land, you may carry the spirit of this teaching in your daily life. Support scholarships, lend a hand to a struggling student, share knowledge freely with those who cannot afford it, and speak against injustice wherever education is treated as a privilege rather than a right. Let your voice be joined to Bobby Scott’s, so that the generations to come will inherit a world where learning flows like a river—free, nourishing, and without end.

Thus may we walk in the wisdom of the ancients and the justice of the present, knowing that education is the light of humanity, and that to deny it to any is to dim the brightness of us all.