Educated by Tara Westover

Educated by Tara Westover

by Michele Knight, ELITE, Instructional Designer

Educated by Tara Westover is a story that showcases bold tenacity and self-agency. In a world where we are concerned that people are losing the quality of “grit”, Westover places this quality front and center in a struggle for education that takes her from the Appalachian Mountains to Brigham Young University, Harvard University, and finally Cambridge University.

This tale is a riveting autobiography that encourages more page turning than any fiction novel. Westover makes her way through a cloistered upbringing full of equal parts, hard work, and paranoia. She manages to push her own agenda of going beyond the basics of homeschooling to master enough math and science to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where her eyes are opened to the possibilities that an education can really afford, and pushes herself further into the Ivy Tower.

There, she grapples with imposter syndrome, then learns how to embrace her background so that her soul receives an education. Writing more would give away too much of the plotline and lower the incentive to dig into this great tale of a young woman and her incredible struggle to be educated against all odds in a tale that is much stranger, warmer, and uplifting than any work of fiction.

A must-read! Check it out over the winter break!