So much has happened and so much as been done. It’s only right to start things afresh in my new surroundings.
I’m officially an undergraduate student as of now. Pursuing the dream almost every child is socialised to dream of. Most parents would tell their child to study hard so as to move on to the next level of education. Pre-school to kindergarten, Kindergarten to Primary school, Primary school to Secondary school, so on and so forth.
Now that I am at the last step looking back down at the route I have been climbing, I take a moment and ponder, “Is it really true that success stands after this?”
It seems all too obvious that the answer is “No,” however, that begets the question:
“Then why are we still telling children that this is the way it should be?”
I am proud to call myself a student at where I am currently enrolled. But that is as far as it goes. I wont deny that university education is important, in fact, I feel that it is in this phase of my life that I have learnt to adopt different perspectives and practice different habits.
However, looking forwards into the future, I question myself why is it that we keep telling our kids to study so hard?
The people who decided it was important must have a reason for it, and it must have been very well driven into the population. But then, it is only possible by creating the conflict of the classes – the rich and the poor, those in power and those who are powerless, the people who can mobilise and those who are mobilised against their will – and as far as it is frustrating, it is impossible for a nation to operate without it. No riches without poverty, no scholars without average graders, and certainly no leaders without the followers. But who then, or what, decides the social standing of the population?
Today, I study my nights off, burning what little time I have trying to survive my grades, at the same time juggling work commitments to earn my own allowance and pay-off my school fees. It is not the best situation to be caught in. All this happens alongside a large number of people who have a different lifestyle altogether.
Luck? Fate? Destiny? Karma?
All the commonly prescribed answers to this plight I am in. For them, does the topic of education as the key to success even qualify?
Does education even qualify as a prerequisite for success?
I doubt so, maybe for the people stuck in the same rut as me, but definitely not for everyone (and judging from the growing income disparity, it doesn’t look so good). And of course we can spend another hour or 2 talking about the definition of success, but that shall be left for another post.
I shall end the post with the question again:
Does education stand as a prerequisite for success? If it does, why, and who decided it was? If not, then why are we telling our children the importance of it?
#1 by layla on December 12, 2011 - 1:32 am
Perhaps what is your definition of success? Money? Recognition? Relationships? All these are failable. What then can we chase after that is eternal?
#2 by Reynold on December 13, 2011 - 3:30 am
Hi Layla, thank you for your comment this post. It’s the first I’ve had since a long time (years I believe).
Honestly, I do not have a definition of success. I have been taught since young that success is financial freedom and a comfortable living. My years as a teen saw the era of the 5Cs – Cash, Condo, Credit Card, Country Club, Car – Yet in the recent years, the ideology of the 5Cs have dissipated without a dominant ideology taking over. Some movements for the entrepreneurial spirit did surface, but I doubt it did overtake the 5Cs. Other efforts seem to have made a mark, but only as a flash in the pan.
I have been wondering about my definition of success over the past few years, and frankly, it seems to point toward an intangible and more unmeasurable direction – Happiness, contentment, moral and virtue development and other “cliche” yet still occurring words (whenever this topic pops).
But then again, what is happiness? And is it the happiness of today, tomorrow or months and years later? What if they contradict themselves like how partying today is a (possibly short-lived) joy, which could affect future health? And moderation is a touchy topic because how then do we moderate if we cannot yet define our units of measurements for our variables.
Maybe you could share with me what are your views on the definition of success, and could help me understand better the workings of this amazing journey of living?
Thanks!
Reynold
#3 by layla on January 17, 2012 - 12:16 am
Hiya Reynold!
YEARS since you got a comment? Really? O_o
I’ve been reading your blog recently and your self reflections are indeed really interesting. =) Probably why i decided to comment. Well if you do not know what success is, you probably won’t know how to seek it, or even recognize it if you attain it. I applaud your ability to actually think and question your life’s purpose. Here’s what I think… Any thing that is invented or manufactured in this world has a purpose that the inventor had in mind right? So perhaps the answer of what our life’s purpose is would simply be found in wondering where we came from. I’m not sure what your stand is on this but I’m sure that a God created us. intelligent design of the world and even our own bodies is certainly proof of that. It’s be pretty sad if we were just the result of some cosmic accident. (We’d have no purpose then) Maybe we could just ask our creator. What do you think? I mean who else would know better.
Just last week I learnt about Magnum ice cream’s tagline (hahas this is making me crave one now =P ) : Pleasure is desire fulfilled.
So if pleasure(happiness) is desire fulfilled, then maybe the reason we don’t feel happiness is because it simply isn’t our desire. Or maybe it kinda is.. but from a slightly different angle. What is your heart’s desire?
Btw I ain’t preaching a religion k! Nowadays everyone in singapore is so scared to talk about God and all in fear of being viewed intolerant or smth. (PAP conspiracy! Hahahas)
http://youtu.be/6rzOdXJu5UA
Happy Chinese New Year!
Enjoy the video!
#4 by layla on January 17, 2012 - 12:20 am
But then again, what is happiness? And is it the happiness of today, tomorrow or months and years later? What if they contradict themselves like how partying today is a (possibly short-lived) joy, which could affect future health? And moderation is a touchy topic because how then do we moderate if we cannot yet define our units of measurements for our variables.
OOPs forgot to answer that part.
If someone’s doing something that they’re never truly happy about-like short lived partying- then it probably isn’t happiness. Joy and happiness are also not to be mixed up. Joy comes from within, from truth it’s kinda like a spring. Happiness is simply a response to a circumstance from the external. We cannot be truly happy because the reason we seek ‘happiness’ is because we seek to fill a hole within us.