People spend tens or hundreds of thousand dollars to go to university and some even cross the oceans to be educated in a foreign land. For most of the students studying overseas, this would be the only opportunity for them to remain in another country for a long enough time in the name of education until it doesn't feel like a holiday anymore.
I was answering an online survey one day and one question asked "Why do you go to university?" and some of the options were:
- I was interested in the subject and wanted to learn more
- It is a requirement for my career
- Family's expectation of you
- It was the normal thing to do
Honestly, I thought long about it and I didn't really know the answer. It was a bit of everything so I ticked the last option.
But what is education?
"The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural
curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it
afterwards" ~Anatole France
“The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to
think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves,
than to load the memory with thoughts of other men.”~Bill Beattie
The default textbook answer would be to study or learn. But if we just needed theoretical knowledge, we could just go to the library. To which my friend replied "But the library doesn't give you accreditation"
It seems that education now is solely to prepare you for employment. After all, why do some parents object what their children want to pursue? Mostly because there is low pay or employability or maybe its not so professional and therefore less honourable. Occasionally, they would also discourage you to pursue studies which would lead you to a job that is really boring, for example an actuarist or an accountant from what I heard. It is good to note that they care about your wellbeing. However, what seems like a discouragement is actually a test of how determined you want to do what you want to do, that is if you already know what you want.
Have you ever felt like you want to study after an exam? You just developed a tiny interest in the subject but didn't bother continuing because it wouldn't count towards your grade anymore now that the exam is over?
Girl: How do you feel now that PMR is over?
Sanjay: I feel happy and yet sad because when I feel like studying, I realised there is nothing to study (for).
Sad, isn't it?
So, education has been defined as the awakening of the natural curiosity so that one would think for themselves, and as a result learn.
However, when I share my thoughts with my friends, this is what they say:
"Don't think so much. Your head will get too big...Isn't' it torturing?"
"Wah...but don't think too much wor"
"You are thinking too much"
If the aim of education is to make you think, why do people think that thinking is bad?
I once heard that people who live by the beach die younger because when they look at the ocean, they tend to contemplate a lot and get depressed. I don't know how true is it though. When people post their thoughts on their blogs, they are often labeled 'Emo'. It seems that many people assume that thinking too much will lead to depression. That really depends on what you think about. For me, I am enlightened when I think.
to be continued...
PS I am writing this because God has placed this very strong in my heart to share and has intensified that desire when I later received emails from my friends blaming the education system for their immaturity and saying that there is nothing much to look forward day after day. My mother also sent me an email stating that the reason Jews are so powerful is education. And also Michele was self-confessedly randomly mentioning of her laziness to update her blog.
