Purpose

In my opinion the academic system has a flaw in it. The long years of schooling, plus hectic activities has started to instill a sort of 'complacency'. Students learning in Singapore certainly have it different from other countries. While the content taught is of high quality, yet something is being missed.

Perhaps you have wondered about the future. You know, like what you would do, what kind of house you would live in, what kind of cars will you drive, etc. But the future is uncertain, we all know that. And then your thoughts might turn back to current life, current situation. You see yourself, oh dear, I have failed this test again, for the 10th time. And you look somemore and see, ahya, school is getting busier, cca until 7 pm. Go home late, tons of homework to do. Must mug harder. Yet you never find time to do it. When you do find time, you tell yourself, aiya, work so hard for this week already, must have a well-earned rest. And you sit down and sleep.

See the flaw here? Perhaps not. After school, you take out your homework, looks at the benzene ring in disgust. You think, sighs, what has the benzene ring got to do with the future? I want to be a psychologist. You take out your next homework. Omg, what has quantum mechanics gotta do with reality around me. Totally irrelevant, and abstract too. So difficult to understand, you think. You look at your pile of notes. Tml is maths test on CnR, and calculus. And you think, wads the use of this stupid topic. I dont need to do integration next time as a nutritionist.

See the flaw? Lemme tell you. The school system while having the best interests at heart for your development and education, has missed a certain point. That point is where is the relevancy? The school has never really shown you how this subject might be helpful for what stuff later. You dont see the link between real life and the subjects that you are taking. Or you dont care about the link. You think about the future, sigh, look at the present, and you forget about the future fast. Because the present has so many pressing matters, stress, etc, you just want to take a step at a time, and dont think too far ahead. And because you dont want to think too far ahead, you forget to question where exactly are you headed to, and what exactly it is that you want, and why is it the you are doing all this for.

And if your answer is just to earn tht cert so that you can get to a job that can get lots of power and money, then you are too short sighted. What if suddenly one day, you question yourself where exactly are you headed to, and what exactly it is that you want, and why is it the you are doing all this for; you might come down with an identity crisis, and its very easy to fall into Depression. The later that you try to answer this question, the easier it is to fall into a greater crisis. Better to answer that question early than to answer it later.

Invariably, the school becomes a maze of sorts for some people, and those people become lab rats running blindly inside. Not that everyone must plan very far ahead, or work very hard towards a certain goal in mind, but if you can just answer those questions yourself, then you find that life is suddenly a lot more purposely. Without consciously working towards your goal actively, you are subconciously moving towards it. Your mind, would direct nudges in the right direction to your goal, and all you need is to walk towards it. Suddenly you become more purposeful when studying for subjects. Benzene rings look a lot more relevant in life. Quantum mechanics is happening right before you. And subconciously, you are doing Integration all the time.

Think about it. What do you want to do next time? Why do that in future? Why exactly are you doing this now?