Our formal education system is often cited as
a prerequisite for a “good job” out in “the real world”. With this understanding
of the importance of education, many students get wrapped up in their grades
and marks, often taking them as value statements on their own self-worth. It’s
really easy to get trapped in the cycle of getting good grades to get a good
job to make a lot of money to pay for a house to support a family to send your
own kids to college so they can get a good job and make lots of money. When
this happens, grades become the foundation for an entire future — and perhaps
even the foundation of your child’s future, which is honestly just way too much
pressure.
I think that education is about better
knowing yourself, better knowing the world around you, and attempting to figure
out your place in the world. Understanding reality and your role in it
(“Knowing thyself,” as the ancient Greeks said), is infinitely more valuable
than any material consequences of a diploma. Education is about
self-improvement, not about the number of zeros on the end of a paycheck.
With this in mind, I think that grades start
to lose their novelty. By valuing education for its personal return instead of
its financial return, grades become less of a statement on the future and more
of a (mostly) inconsequential part of knowing thyself.
Obviously Grades have their place. They’re a
necessary part of education. What they aren’t a necessary part of is
self-esteem. They don’t really matter because they don’t define us: what
defines us is the changes education makes within us. So maybe I got a B or a C
on that last exam, but am I better overall for having taken the class? The
answer is usually yes. And that is what makes education worthwhile. Forget the
grades, forget the jobs, and just try to become a better person, enjoying the
ridiculous luxury that education is.
There are many reasons a student can lose
focus in school.
It can be bad grades that will discourage
them to be inactive and to rebel. It can be the environment that can be
stifling and suffocating for the students.
Some students excel under pressure, and there
are those who crumble beneath it. It’s easy to praise the students who
continuously work hard, but let’s try not to berate those who find it difficult
to focus.
When students get tired of school, they find
all means to take the shortcut. This is why numerous students end up copying
their homework and plagiarizing their essays.
With the likes of Mark Zuckerberg being the
poster boy of drop-out billionaires, it’s easy to see why many students seem to
think that they no longer need school to succeed in life. But closer inspection
shows that their path to success is muddier than one would expect. And besides,
we can’t all be Mark Zuckerberg. We can’t all be Steve Jobs. But students can
try to pave their own way to success and school can help with that.
We need to understand that students have
different modes and strengths in learning, and sometimes formal education
doesn’t work for many students. But every student has a talent and a skill that
need time to develop.
It’s easy to get disheartened with a failed
Math exam, but it’s just one exam out of many. A low grade for an English essay
may be discouraging, but there’s always a next time. What students need to keep
in mind is that getting bad grades and making mistakes can only lead to further
learning. There’s always room for growth and time to correct their mistakes. One
failure doesn’t mean it’s endgame already.
No, your future doesn’t depend on your WBBSE or CBSE
Class 12 marks or what college you get into – it’s an evolving lifelong thing
that you get to create page by page, chapter by chapter, in the book of your
life.
You are and always will be much more than a
degree, a course, a job.
You are a human being with inspiring
qualities and with infinite potential — at age 18 or 80.
Recognize your power and resourcefulness. Be
so strong from the inside that you can face any situation in life and make it
sparkle.
There will be laughter and tears, endings and
beginnings, births and deaths, adventures and misadventures, regret and
acceptance, the world will fall apart many times and come together again.
None of this will be dependent on your marks or what/where you studied.
Very little in life is worth losing your
sense of self and peace of mind.
Absolutely nothing is worth letting
your self-worth be determined by external forces.
You are wonderful. You are bright. You are
courageous.
And there are many ways to get to where you
want to be, if you’ll keep your dreams alive and the doors open.
The rest of your life is just beginning.
And I am so excited and optimistic for you, dear brothers and sisters!!!!!
