While getting an education is, of course, important, human potential is not so limited that it can be measured merely by an aptitude for rote learning. Grades are just one of several different ways to gauge a part of you pertaining to the domain of testing. That doesn’t necessarily mean that grades can be used to reveal the gem at the centre of your life. So based on what marks one gets in school or college one should not evaluate oneself on the degree of success or failure.
Our society today has become susceptible to so much of competition that students are pressurised from all sides to get the best marks possible. Adding to their woes is the entire education system which on a whole doesn’t really focus on bringing about the best in children. Just by getting high marks in exams is not enough when we look at in on a long term basis. There are several students who get very high marks in school but later in their lives falter at work. The reason is not because they get into their respective fields, but because they don’t have the right attitude towards learning. In school their main focus is only on somehow getting high marks in their exams and projects but along the way they forget that what is more important is not just getting high marks but also learning.
Such systems and processes have created the malformed notions and beliefs of doing something based on the type of rewards linked to them. But that is not how it works. In essence, it is about the experience and journey of the process and of what you do and how you do it. The end goal is just a consequence of the journey. If you really identified your purpose and passion, things such as rewards and incentives would mean nothing and you would continue doing it even after being rewarded or not. It is the passion of knowing more that will determine your success in life, not the chase for marks.
Today’s generation has become addicted to spoon feeding. Gone are the days when our parents used to go to libraries, make their own notes and enjoy their studies. Today everybody wants ready-made notes and presentations which they can just mug up and vomit in their exam papers. But in the long run does this really help them grow?
It has been recently found that EQ (emotional quotient) is more important than one’s IQ (intelligence quotient). This attests to the importance of such broad ranging human qualities as compassion or a staunch fighting spirit, which no IQ test can gauge. For this reason, it is foolish to think that grades at sixteen or eighteen or whatever, will determine the rest of one’s life. There’s much more to human potential than that.
Studies are important, of course. But what grades one gets in the present does not doom him or her to a less-than-bright future. If one thinks this way, they will keep themselves away from nurturing their abilities. Their personal development will cease if they give up trying to mine the gem in their lives. This is something to be avoided at all cost.
Some get accepted at universities but don’t work hard there. There are some who become overbearing and arrogant. The world of today needs leaders – not elitists. Others stop striving for personal growth after entering a big company or becoming bureaucrats, doctors or lawyers. Some people who graduate from top universities even resort to crime. Many people, achieving their personal career goals, forget to work for others.
Actually, graduating and getting a job is just the beginning, not the final destination. But many think only about what they want to become, not what they can contribute to society. Greatness as a human being is not determined by educational background or social position. Your future depends on the efforts you make and whether you are walking the correct path. It’s not important how you compare to others but how you compare to who you were yesterday.
The question is how we can live happily, in a way true to ourselves, where we can always look forward and advance. Suppose you are lost in the jungle. You want to find your way out and reach the ocean but don’t know which way to go. What do you do? The answer is to keep moving ahead. Eventually, you’ll reach a river, and when you follow the river downstream, you will reach the ocean. Being young means wrestling with all kinds of problems. It means resolving them, in spite of all difficulties, pushing aside the dark clouds of despair and advancing towards the sun, towards hope. Such strength and resilience are the hallmarks of youth.
The most important thing to always remember is to keep moving forward. While struggling with various problems, it is vital for us to always advance, even if it’s only one or two inches. If we do so, when we look back we’ll see that we have actually made our way through the jungle in no time.
No one can judge you, to do so one needs to truly know the other person. But in reality, only you can truly know yourself. In order to truly grow out of this we need to mature than just learn how to unwisely act in public. Thus, you are your own judge in a similar manner that you are your own creator. So, be yourself, be what you really want to be, rest all will naturally fall into the picture.
