As often as I have mentioned, I apologize for my frequent absences. Lately, I have become more of a recluse and I'm coming to the realization of this. It's not really something I want to admit as a problem, I've been avoiding doing so, but it is something that is hindering me in productivity and progression.
I think this is actually a problem many people have; many fearful people have it, and people who are really successful happen to overcome this difficulty. What difficulty am I talking about? Putting yourself out there, on the line, in the danger zone in order to try to accomplish something in which there is a good chance you might fail. That is probably one of the most frightening thoughts for me to have, not dying, not public speaking, but taking a huge jump. At the same time, I know that, if I do it, I may just experience the exhilaration that those risk-takers get. It is a scary and exciting thing. The problem, often, though, to why a lot of people are not taking as many risks; i.e. taking the 'safe route' by studying a profession in which there is "job security," is because the generations before us tell us that we need to get a job and be able to support ourselves and our potential families. That's a really stressful goal that that generation has imposed on ours. Of course, the key reason for that is because of how they were raised and how they survived, it wasn't necessarily by being creative (although there were many stand-out people who were), but by taking a profession that guaranteed a long-term income....mostly. The other thing is, because of all of the economic boom in that generation, the job market was quite optimal, so it was much easier to get a job. In the present, the job market isn't at it's best; there aren't a lot of fantastic jobs for just-out-of-college graduates, and the process to get a job tends to be extremely stressful, with questions like "How does my resumé look? Do I have enough references? What about my education history? Was I involved in enough clubs? Do I have enough internship experience? What about community service?" All of this is in addition to the quality of our transcripts. It's unbelievably stressful as each person approaches the job market. Even to get into a university, it is a minor anxiety attack with each college application.
Now, I'm not saying that everyone has had this experience, and even my own mother is extremely supportive of any idea I have, and is a great guide in telling me which ideas are a bit too doughy and need more time to rise. That being said, there are many pessimistic people that have inserted their "what if's" of negativity and failure, and that with each failure, you are less. This, again, is EXTREMELY daunting.
Now, let's look at educators. Take, for example, this. Education is becoming more and more standardized, which it really shouldn't be. I don't blame the teachers in any way. In fact, I have become much more concerned with the education system, and how statistics and data is gaining more control on how our upcoming generations are being educated. That is a problem, a HUGE problem. The more people rely on numbers as a value of "intellect," the more they are limiting the quality of the education the students receive. When people become so dependent on what percent their child gets, it corrupts their education, because now all the educators become dependent on having a good percentage, giving unnecessary "good" scores. Even in the United States, this is becoming a problem, where our education is becoming standardized, and the education provided by our instructors is being limited to the "necessities to pass the standardized exams." Every time I think about standardizing education, I think of this:
In fact, after seeing a list of grades that students received on an exam in their class, (In Thailand), all I could say was, "Wow, that's impossible." If you ask me why, it is because, if, out of thirty students, the lowest score was an 87%, you have to question the validity of the exam.
That being said, I actually don't believe in giving a quantitative value until the age of ten or eleven, for competition. As a child is growing up, they are in the process of developing their personality, and the basic skills, to which should be "pass/fail" or "goal achieved/ goal needs work," because to give a percent of how well a child did when they are young, say five or six years old, initiates unnecessary competition and stress in a child because they want to please their parents.
At the same time, it is not only the teacher's responsibility to educate their child, but the parent's as well to motivate and encourage learning (not enforce it). In Thailand, I see a lot of parents that enforce extra education, but I have witnessed parents who encourage it as well;I often see these children doing much better, and not being as shy to try harder than the children whose parents send them to private tutoring but do not add much positive reinforcement. It is a little bit disappointing.
For the idealists, they have many ideas, but, like many of mine, they tend to be incomplete before they move onto a new idea. This is okay if one is by themselves thinking, although it often acts as a hindrance but, if a group of people is involved, whoever is the leader cannot completely change an idea in motion without discussing it with the rest of the group; that is, unless the group is a flock of sheep. It can be completely frustrating, but it is a learning experience. I may become a more decisive and proactive leader, after having experienced a messy collaboration like this.
Beyond that, I do have some hope for the future, but what I must do is re-immerse myself into society, and learn to focus on one project at a time, and take a few risks in order to make progress. Either way, taking a risk has positive benefits: if I succeed, it is a big pay-off. If I fail, it is a lesson learned of what not to do for next time.
But I'll never know unless I try. And to go about life passively is an unattractive characteristic.
Until next time,
K.
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