Tara Westover was born in a family on a remote mountain in Idaho to parents practiced a set of radical Fundamentalist Mormon beliefs. Engulfing her dad, Gene, at all times, was the extreme fear of the Ends of Days, the Illuminati, and the government. His delusional belief prevented his family from forming any connections with the government. Instead of going to school, which Gene insisted would do nothing but brainwash them, his children were ‘homeschooled’; instead of going to regular doctors, whom he assumed were “minions of Satan”, they relied on oils mixed by Westover’s mother to cure sickness.
Through the book, Westover dug a hole in her emotional walls, bringing us, the reader, into her own house in Idaho. You can smell the oils her mom made, hear the sound of the clanking scraps in her dad’s junkyard, and feel your heart race as she was abused by her brother.
To be raised in a family like hers was like being raised in the eye of a vicious hurricane. Despite of this, Westover somehow managed to leave the house and get a formal education, a choice that drove her to her rewrite the story of her life.
She started by teaching herself ACT. For a girl, who couldn’t even recognize the math symbols, ACT was torture. Yet, with hard work and determination, she earned a score that qualified her admission into Brigham Young University, sealing a spot in the first academic institution of her life. Little did she know, the university would be the foundation for her later successes.
Westover does something far beyond just telling a story, she inspires her readers with her never-give-up attitude. From an ignorant girl who used to collect scrap in her dad’s junkyard on a remote mountain, Westover worked her way to the most prestigious address in the academic world. She was subsequently awarded the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, went to Cambridge to earn a Master of Philosophy, and was a visiting fellow at Harvard University in 2010.
Westover’s memoir is truly the testament for the power of education. It shines the light through whatever fog most of us are living in, reminding us to get rid of the excuses and start working.
Educated, a phenomenal life, a beautiful story interwoven with deep emotional revelations, is simply a book that one should have on their bookshelves.
Through the book, Westover dug a hole in her emotional walls, bringing us, the reader, into her own house in Idaho. You can smell the oils her mom made, hear the sound of the clanking scraps in her dad’s junkyard, and feel your heart race as she was abused by her brother.
To be raised in a family like hers was like being raised in the eye of a vicious hurricane. Despite of this, Westover somehow managed to leave the house and get a formal education, a choice that drove her to her rewrite the story of her life.
She started by teaching herself ACT. For a girl, who couldn’t even recognize the math symbols, ACT was torture. Yet, with hard work and determination, she earned a score that qualified her admission into Brigham Young University, sealing a spot in the first academic institution of her life. Little did she know, the university would be the foundation for her later successes.
Westover does something far beyond just telling a story, she inspires her readers with her never-give-up attitude. From an ignorant girl who used to collect scrap in her dad’s junkyard on a remote mountain, Westover worked her way to the most prestigious address in the academic world. She was subsequently awarded the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, went to Cambridge to earn a Master of Philosophy, and was a visiting fellow at Harvard University in 2010.
Westover’s memoir is truly the testament for the power of education. It shines the light through whatever fog most of us are living in, reminding us to get rid of the excuses and start working.
Educated, a phenomenal life, a beautiful story interwoven with deep emotional revelations, is simply a book that one should have on their bookshelves.