I'm writing this one in bold because it's important.
So recently I've been thinking about my life and what I want to do with it. Due to the fact this time next year I'll be done with it, I've been thinking about what I want to do. I'm really struggling with school at the minute as well, which has helped in making decisions because it has motivated me to really think hard about what will make me happy for the rest of my life. The thing is with school, is that anything you do gets judged (literally) your work gets marked, you are judged by your peers, you are told what is right and what is wrong with YOUR work.. Already that sounds wrong, don't you think? I've noticed the past few months when doing coursework my teachers have been 'correcting it' but in reality, changing everything we do. Sometimes it's really frustrating because you feel like you have done it the best of your ability but then there's most likely always something wrong. I get the fact that the whole point of school is to educate you, but I think most teachers are confused with 'educating' and 'moulding'. School is supposed to educate you so that you are able to make your way in life with the knowledge that you have learnt, not mould you into a person that you aren't and make you feel guilty for any of the credit you get.
I don't know if I've came across as I meant to but basically I feel that school has squeezed the creativity out of everyone I know. I know a few people who have developed anxiety because we are scared to go from our own knowledge and conscience because we think we will look stupid if we are 'corrected'. In the past 2 years I have came to the realisation that whatever grades we get do not determine who who are or where we are going in life. That is the thing I hate about school, the teachers drum into you that if you do not do well then you life is over. There are many inspirational people who have achieved great things in their lifetime who did not have a great education such as:
- Albert Einstein: Most of us take Einstein's name as synonymous with genius, but he didn't always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually, he was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. It might have taken him a bit longer, but most people would agree that he caught on pretty well in the end, winning the Nobel Prize and changing the face of modern physics.
- Charles Darwin: In his early years, Darwin gave up on having a medical career and was often chastised by his father for being lazy and too dreamy. Darwin himself wrote, "I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect." Perhaps they judged too soon, as Darwin today is well-known for his scientific studies.
