I completed my graduation this year. Unlike a lot of my friends, whose goals and aims for themselves were set, I had no idea what to do next. Well actually, I did know. I wanted to become someone successful, famous and someone who people would look upto. The only thing I didn't know was 'How?!!' Anyways, while I was thinking of my future, my brother called me and sat me down and asked me a simple question- Now what? For him, it was a simple. 'What do you want to do now? Have you thought of any course? Have you thought about working? etc. etc...The number of questions asked put quite a lot of pressure on me and in the end, not only was I confused about what to do but also feeling low about 'the way I wasted the last few years.' I decided to take time off (went for an AOL course, always helps) and on returnin, spent another couple of days to find out about different courses, the requirements needed for each course and the colleges where they are held. Now, I have decided to do 2 courses. They are related to things that I enjoy, help me earn enough moolah and give me time to continue volunteering in the Art of Living.
I was lucky to have had that much time. I could still afford to enjoy my college days (I did have an idea of what I wanted) and think about what I wanted to do. Today, kids are not that lucky. They have to know right from eighth grade about they want to do later on. Their lives are set. They study hard to get the results required for them to get in the necessary stream. For them, every minute is so important that they are ready to not go out anywhere.It's good that the kids are so focussed but don't you think it's also sad that academics has become of such importance that kids are losing sleep over it? Is it really worth it??
The month of june means over time work for the counsellors who answer to calls of stressed and nervous kids who feel that their parents will be upset if they don't get more marks than XYZ. For kids, bad results=end of their world. Should it be like that? Should academics really be such a big deal that a child's life means nothing in front of it?? If not,then why do we still put all this pressure on the kids to get good results? Why don't we encourage them to get results for their own sake and not because their parents want so?
Let's give the kids the opportunity to feel proud about how much ever they have got. Be it more than XYZ or less.
4 comments:
Hi Urvi -
Just some random thoughts on the subject.
It is true that today's parents pressurize their kids to study hard and somehow connect education to success in life.
I feel that there is some correlation between education and being successful. But the correlation between success and hard work, positive attitude, motivation, dedication is much stronger.
Instead of motivating their kids to work hard, be positive and focused in whatever they do in life, parents put the emphasis on just education.
Education should be a vehicle to get you to your final destination and not your final destination.
We all ought to realize that Microsfot founder and one of the richest man in the world Bill Gates was a college dropout.
Here is his advise to High School students (some of this is applicable to working people also) -
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will
expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.
You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it
opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine
about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they
are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your
clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but
life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and
they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer.
This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually
have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
Well, I for one can relate to what you have written.
For the last 6 months of my life, I have been weeded out based on my academics.
And its funny, really, coz at the end, no matter where i work , i have to undergo '4 months of training'.
What is happening is basically a more human-induced artificial 'survival of the fittest' darwins theory.
In the end, till you start working at the very least, academics count for everything (unless you decide to start somethin on your own).
-Sudarshan (from AOL)
please do visit www.sudarhanmj.blogspot.com
gud guin gr8...keep guin..
Hey....Welcome to blogging !! :D
Good job !!
And thanks for stopping by on my blog...
Tc
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