So...this whole questioning on the education system has been spinning in and out of my head for far too long. Honestly, exchange has made me very disillusioned with education. Because all I need to do is pass right? Then why study so hard? Then again, why study at all is a better question. Think about it...do you study because of grades? If so, is that really learning? Traveling is learning. Interacting with people from other cultures and countries is learning. Taking a walk in the park, people watching and yalada are all learning. Is sitting in a classroom copying down notes from a professor who is yacking away learning? A prof who talks about stuff you arent very interested in, but you have no choice to sit in cause attendance is taken, exams and essays are given, and behind all that the bell curve god is staring down at you. His right hand man called grades is whipping your ass and his left hand man called datelines/deadlines is slowly tightening the noose around your neck. Okay, yes we need grades because if there are no grades students wouldnt care about exams and essays. Sounds legit...but I stop believing so. If I dont care...that means I dont care anymore. Think of the Normal Tech student who is so sick of trying and failing time and again. Why do you think that student gave up? Did grades really help? I am more inclined to think grades destroyed his interest in learning, in education, in believing that he is good at this. Okay we need grades so employers can look at our degrees and hire the suitable candidate. Not all employers do this, but in university too many of us tell ourselves this. So we study hard, because we want better pay, our ah gong pays better with honours degree. Means (better pay) and ends (happiness). Really better pay means more happiness? All that unhappiness now for that perceived happiness in the future? Okay so we need a degree to gain more perspectives about life and this world. Indeed I have learnt more in uni than I have in 12 years of education. But do we need grades for that? And again...do we really need more knowledge? Does knowing more means changing the world? Before stepping into uni I already know we are a generation that knows too much but acts too little for the amount we know. Knowing more doesnt mean the homeless will have a shelter over their head. We just know the homeless doesnt have a shelter over their head. Thats it. Then we go back, use our facebook, click like on some Humans of New York photo, feel good for a while, and continue being a slave to the bell curve god. I love learning. I do. We all do. But grades honestly destroy all of that joy. I really dont think its necessary for grades to be around. Seriously, if you dont want to learn in a university, go do something else with your life. Stop wasting your life away, dont take up a spot someone else wants but cant get. Go climb mount Everest or help in a refugee camp. I think these are far greater acts/accomplishments than getting a darn piece of paper with a number on it hoping to get employed, and just a tiny cog in a huge machine called economy. You really think you need money to survive in this world? No. You dont. You need money to buy things you dont really need. You need kindness and love to survive in this world. Not money. Travel enough, be open with yourself and you will know what I mean. This is here because the inertia to start my essay is so hugeeee. And I hereby admit, it is even more difficult to pass in SciencePo than in NUS. The one in Paris I mean. Pass not get an A, yes just pass. There are a few who chose a more difficult university than their home uni. I happen to be one of them.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 10:05:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015