I was riding along the Seoul Metro today and I was trying, as usual, to avoid staring at a particular set of legs or faces to save unnecessary awkwardness. There are so many people crammed into these things these days even at noon, and so I had no choice but to stare at the ceiling. So many in-your-face hagwon ads, colourfully and boldly promising breakthroughs and turning points to anyone vulnerable enough to believe them. Become no. 1 in your 언어영역, it said, and become Level 1 in your 수능. And I thought, why would anyone ever need to become no. 1 in their 언어영역? Why did this phrase not strike me as plain stupid before? I guess in my high school days I just supposed it would get me into a 'good' university. No one told me what was supposed to happen once I got into 'SKY'. everyone just assumed it was because in Korea, SKY will let you beat the competition to whatever future path I chose. There is some truth in that, but that's not really an answer. The reason for competition is to beat the competition? Is there no point, no reason, no value and end to it all?
But no, there really is a point to education and going to school, even on a shallow and practical level. Getting high scores at school is a good thing because it means you have learnt and understood lessons taught at school, enough to answer almost all semi-complicated questions on them. Not because it gives you superiority over others or justification to be snooty to your lesser classmates, but because it gives you basic information and level of brain power to open selections in career possibilities, so that in at least one of them you will find your calling and happiness. Being no. 1 is always relative, and the true value of education is never relative. Without basic education, you will end up narrowing your possibilities. A degree is unnecessary if you are lucky enough to have found your vocation at a younger age and it requires no further education. But most of the time, teenagers are too young and lack experience to have a full understanding of the various possibilities laid at their feet. Hence college education and further studies, to help us realize that area of expertise we can feel confident enough to build our livelihoods upon.
On a deeper level, education teaches us how to gain pleasure in life. For it takes some amount of education to better understand the beauty and joy around us, some to sufficiently communicate, some to think in depth and contemplate on life, and some to allow us to express this pleasure and share it. Basically, we learn to understand and meet our needs, feel pleasure and communicate. We develop our minds because we have an urge to better ourselves and become valuable members of our society. Remembering that studying has a purpose, and that it is ultimately for one's own happiness will help free those who feel trapped to join an existing trend of career path or a mass university hunt. It is ultimately for your own good, and you don't have to choose from precedents, as long as you can support yourself and those you love sufficiently through acceptable means. There is no textbook for one's special set of circumstances. Invent, create, and be happy. Wonder why no one told me this when I was 16.
