Education Under Fire, Learning Is My Resistance

The Power of Learning in Times of Uncertainty

For years, I believed that learning was a quiet and solitary act — something you did alone, late at night, to become a better version of yourself. I used to study in my dorm, hunched over my desk lamp, focusing intently on the pages before me. I would sit in the library, careful not to type too loudly, until the loudspeaker announced it was closing and it was time to go home.

Back then, school brought stress dreams about finals and forgotten deadlines. But now, those dreams have evolved into something more terrifying. They involve denied financial aid, banned books, peers in handcuffs for protesting, and attacks on the very values that inspired me to pursue higher education. These are no longer just dreams — they are real-life challenges that many students face today.

Across the country, lawmakers are enacting policies that ban books, dismantle diversity programs, and restrict what teachers can discuss about race and gender. The Department of Education is under threat, as are journalists, sometimes metaphorically and sometimes literally. The Trump administration has pushed colleges and universities into impossible situations, forcing them to choose between funding and academic freedom.

It’s important to recognize that these attacks on education are not random. They are part of a larger strategy aimed at controlling how young people think and who they become. These efforts seek to devalue truth and the diversity of thought that education fosters. Education builds critical thinkers, empathy for the oppressed, and resistance against systems that seek to suppress people.

Those who attack education don’t just hate it; they fear it. This realization has made the long nights spent studying and the early morning lectures even more significant to me. These moments aren’t just testaments to determination — they are acts of protest. In today’s social and political climate, choosing to learn deeply and honestly is one of the most powerful forms of defiance we have left.

The radical potential of a classroom is often overlooked. Every time you study for a final, write a paper, or ask a question in class, you’re reclaiming control from those who want to dictate what you believe. Math and science help you understand how the world works, English classes help you understand human behavior, and history teaches you how power functions — and how dangerous it can be when we stop paying attention.

When Donald Trump won the election in November, Bright Line Watch — a project led by political scientists, professors, and sociologists to track the state of democracy in the U.S. — rated the health of the country’s democracy at 67 out of 100. By February, that number had dropped to 55. Political scientists and historians warn that the country is moving toward competitive authoritarianism, a system where leaders come to power democratically but then erode checks and balances, threatening the press and educational institutions into compliance with their policies.

This pattern should sound familiar. Such systems thrive when people stop questioning them — when we forget how to think critically, or worse, never learn how in the first place. That’s why our classrooms, libraries, and newsrooms are under attack.

So, yes, your daily learning might feel small — just another lecture, another book, another quiz. But it’s more than that. The Trump administration doesn’t want a public that is educated and empowered enough to challenge its authority. It is working tirelessly to dismantle the institutions and opportunities that teach people how to do just that.

By refusing to fall into the comfort of ignorance, by attending early morning lectures, and by striving to improve not just themselves but the world around them, students everywhere are committing a radical, political act. And that’s enough to inspire me every day with more defiance and determination than ever before.

Today, when I take a class, write an article, or even read a book, I know I’m not just learning for myself. I’m learning how to stand up for what I believe in, and I’m choosing resistance. I hope you’ll do the same.