on a side note, on the topic of time. does the length of time really mean anything?
15 years of education. what has it done? today prof talked about the controversial paper on highly educated but poorly skilled. 6 years of primary education + 4 years of secondary school + 2 years of junior college + 3 years of university life. as i think back, my life in this academic rat race and all that it's done. aside from the knowledge (that in all honesty is especially useless because new information keeps surfacing), the education system has minimally benefited me. what i definitely have gained most, would be the extracurricular, the additional enrichment and the nurturing through the system. it was that microbio course that struck my interest in science, that poetry enrichment that make me a sucker for rhymes. it was through rc that i honed my leadership skills and boosted self-confidence. it took a harsh reality to humble me, make me love language and strive to excel. it took great effort to be effectively multilingual, being able to converse in mandarin when everyone tells you you suck. but i'm fairly comfortable in switching tongues now, to converse colloquially and yet be able to speak good, proper english when it the need arises. it took 2 years of trudging through uni to make me appreciate learning for what it really is.
am i one of those highly educated but poorly skilled singaporeans? i would bravely say NAHHH. i've been blessed with opportunities, forced to be humbled, motivated to excel in what i can excel in and most of all, slowly but surely, i'm accepting that grades aren't everything. sure, some may say claim it's merely just a case of sour grapes. but one has to know one's own limits and be realistic.
mr wilde sure was right to say "education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."
and on that note. much of what i've gained is attributed to my commitment as a vi. why do i stick on when every other jc kid has moved on to focus on studies, on life, on relationships? i'd say it's my way of paying it forward.
i never dared to speak up as a student, now matter how many opinions built up within me. today, i'm willing to share my thoughts for the better, i question and share opinions just so others may learn and in turn i gain from them as well. when i bumped into a teacher just last year, she declared i was more confident than that quiet sec4 girl i once was. i dare say it was my vi experience that moulded me, more than just school and pw and presentations.
some know me as someone pretty quiet (except for the infamous sonic boom), but yet they always jokingly refer to my "RC voice" or "UG voice" - a voice of command. to me, this voice, while meant to admonish at times, is a skill mastered to make people listen with respect. the tone tells them i'm not to be messed with (proven with a bunch of playful non-cadets who daren't laugh at me even as I zaoxia-ed aka cracked my voice as i raised it over a crowd of almost 500 without the help of technology). whoever knew my voice could be so loud :O
the confidence i now exude, in my actions and through expressing my thoughts, was not cultivated overnight but rather its a long-drawn process that has moulded me into who i am today. and that is the very reason as to why i pay it forward.
a reflection of this 2 and 2 leaves me warm and fuzzy. feeling so blessed. no doubt i've been through hard knocks and painful scrapes, but i'm still standing here aren't i. so i'll be hanging on for another five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes, for those moments so dear to nudge me along. thank you Lord.
every year we're getting closer to who we're gonna be
it's time to celebrate the story of how you've come to be
No comments:
Post a Comment