The title of this post is just one word - purpose.
Why purpose?
Let me just share about some things that I experienced about a month ago.
I remembered that it was the week before my Block Tests (my first official assessment this year). It was a really mundane afternoon and we were all waiting for my school's vice-principal to give a speech to our cohort. Honestly, I thought to myself, " I'm really tired and I really just want to go home and mug (Singlish for studying)." What did I not expect was that his words really changed my attitude towards studying. In Singapore, there is such a great emphasis on grades and everyone is so results-driven that it actually kills off the passion you have for the certain subject. Take myself as an example. I'm actually a History enthusiast but because of my constant failings in Year 1, I gradually lost almost all the passion I had for History at the start of Year 1. It was so bad that I almost gave up with Junior College (JC) and just wanted to run away from school! (Don't be too alarmed, I'm still in JC and struggling with Year 2 because giving up would be such a great disappointment to myself.) The VP told us a few things, in which one of the points he brought up was to not bother too much about the end results. I found this really inspiring, because I actually realized for the first time, that simply because I bothered too much about those digits and those alphabets that I gradually killed off the passion I have. I find this point really important, because the more you do not bother too much about the end results, the better you actually do well in it. Of course, it is still important to set realistic goals for yourself so that it motivates and pushes you to try harder and keep that momentum going. Another point that he brought up which I found it extremely useful, is to find that something that keeps you going, especially in something that you really dislike or abhor. Let's say that you really dislike Economics. Maybe find something that you appreciate in spite of all the negativity you have towards it. For example, you dislike Economics because of the numerous essays you have to write or the huge amount of content that you have to master. Why not take a step back and find something that you appreciate about it. Maybe like how you actually see Economics as something relevant to our everyday lives? While it may sound slightly confusing, my point is that even if you really dislike Economics, why not find that 1% that you appreciate about Economics and keep you going? It's not just for academics by the way, it applies to every single thing that you have to go through in your life. While escaping and avoiding may seem like a solution, the truth is that we can't really avoid things that we hate. So why not just face it and endure?
Moving onto another story. Just a while ago, I chanced upon this rather interesting Facebook post that made me recall about an incident when I was in Primary 3. To sum up the Facebook post, it was about this guy (I'm assuming he's a teaching intern or a relief teacher. I'm not really sure about his true identity!) who was teaching in a Secondary 1 Normal Academic Class. From his post, he mentioned about how these students were really disinterested in studies and basically they all hated each other. He then decided to conduct this simple experiment, in which he got them to close their eyes and he would simply ask random questions like "I hate Mathematics", "Do you like Kendama?" and "My favourite YouTube Channel is Night Owl Cinematics" etc. Through this experiment, it actually brought them closer as the students realized that they actually had some common interests and that served to ease some of the initial tensions that they had. He then moved on and asked this question on whether anyone lost a loved one before and half of the class stood up, each relating their own stories. It was honestly heartbreaking when I read this, because behind some of their usual smiling faces, it suddenly felt like some of these faces that they appeared to have were just a masks of their own actual feelings. It was then I remembered a really memorable and fond incident back when I was in Primary 3. Some background about myself. I was honestly not the brightest student when I was in P3 and was placed in a rather below average class where I knew of classmates who had family issues or some sort of personal issues. Like the above mentioned Sec 1 class, quite a lot of us hated each other and there were so much tensions that there would be backstabbing and arguments on a rather regular basis. During a drama lesson one day, my drama teacher decided to ask us this question, in which he asked about our honest and genuine opinions towards our own family. I remembered that it was a rather depressing moment because when some of my classmates shared about their opinions, they actually broke down and it was simply devastating. This guy stood up and told all of us that he didn't really like his family because he always felt inferior to his more academically inclined cousin and that his own parents always compared him to his smarter cousin, which made him angry and upset. Can you imagine? We were only 9 years old. Seriously, in a so-called first world country that we live in, despite the supposedly top-notch education that we receive, it seems to appear to me that we are only concerned with the end results, the numbers that we attain after each assessment and the schools that we attend. It seems to appear to me that we are not concerned about the feelings of our own people. It seems to appear to me that from a young age, all that matter are those freaking useless numbers or alphabets that is supposedly a determinant of our future. I have always been strongly opinionated about our education system (Yes, I acknowledged the changes that the government has done, which I felt were really needed. ) But, there's definitely more to it. Policies definitely do need further updates and revamps, in which an important aspect of it is to reduce the obsession we have towards the numbers and alphabets that we attain after every assessment. But I admit that it's not easy because this requires a mindset change, which is a long-term effort. If only we change our mindset, maybe, in the near future, we won't be just nurturing a bunch of book-smart people, but a society of considerate and loving citizens who are able to excel in their respective fields, regardless of whether they had done well in school.
With this, I hope you find your purpose.
(Feel free to engage in a respectful discourse below in the comments should you have any other views. Thank you.)
