All too often when I ask someone, "why do you want to be a doctor/lawyer/etc.?", I get the reply "so I can be rich and have lots of money."
That saddens me. It really does. But can we really blame the students? With job uncertainty growing, what's wrong with wanting to get a high paying job? But is that really success? Is waking up day after day to an unfulfilled life really success?
I think a large part of the issue stems from the way we have shifted our views on education. Education has devolved and turned into a brute race for the best resume. Gone are the days when kids joined clubs because they enjoyed them. Instead it has turned into a frenzy for leadership positions, and rote community service so one can get into a good college. Society drills the statement "I need to be rich" into each of our heads.
As a result of this, we (as a collective society) have began substituting our short term goals as long term goals. Goals such as getting into college X or job Y should not be considered the end game. If anything they are the beginning. I have always thought of long term goals to be intangible. How one changes the world, how one uses their education to help others, those have always been what I considered long term goals. It's sad that those (long term) goals are often put on the back burner. Somewhere along the line we lost sight of our passions, and became slaves to our ambitions.
Now I'm not here to right off our generation or society, because I too am a part of this generation and society. Do I have a magic bullet or a cure? Not necessarily. The change that needs to occur isn't achievable by one teacher or one student, but rather needs to be the conscious effort of a society. If we can change the statement "I need to be rich" to "I need to follow my passions", I guarantee that we will be much better of.
- BlueJay18
What are your thoughts on the value of education? Share your thoughts below :)
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ReplyDeleteWell written.
ReplyDeleteBut I disagree in the sense that we will not end up where we are passionate. Yes, in high school it is really easy to sit back and say you want to be a Doctor or a Lawyer, but to do so, you will have to get through Med/Law school first.
Imagine studying Organic Chemistry or Public policy for HOURS completely resenting the material and knowing that your future will be filled with countless more. Perhaps wait another four years and ask what people want to become, it might become more clear in their eyes.
However, I agree with your rant on the educational system. Our educational system is atrocious. We seem to always be chasing for a number, a rank, or a statistic. Our lives consist of a series of multiple choice exams and it is frustrating to say the least. However, an overhaul of our current system is impractical and perhaps never going to happen. Plus, what would we even replace it with?
We have yet to learn to live.