A degree is just a piece of paper
If
you haven’t noticed by now, classes are basically a big waste of time. Alright
not all of them, but I would say most. As if taking classes in English wasn't challenging
enough, think about taking courses in Korean. There are international students
who really do work hard and squeeze the most out of them but is it really worth
the effort they put in? I don’t know, but what I do know that I learn more
interning in the lab rather than classes. That’s for sure.
Do I
get a certificate for that? No, but I actually take the time and effort to
learn the basics of tasks that have been tagged as “my responsibility.” And I learn
that way. Of all the classes that are enlisted on my transcript, I can honestly
say I found a handful of classes genuinely helpful. Most of the classes, I was
either scrapping for my grades or was basically nonchalant about it. Motivation
was really an issue.
Personally,
I find it motivating if I know how should prepare for an upcoming exam. Similar
to how you need to prepare the right ingredients with the right proportion for
cooking up a masterclass chicken curry, you need to create the right recipe in
cooking up the grade that you want in your transcript. I have absolutely no
issue in taking courses that are difficult given the fact that I know how to
prepare for those challenging exams.
Well
that’s the issue isn’t it? We don’t. and we screw up.
The
problem:
My
juniors were taking a course this semester and I found out a close friend of
mine was a TA for the class. This meant that he would set the questions and
mark the paper. Awesome.
I
approached him with prudence of course. I didn’t want him to get in trouble and
I wanted my juniors to score better. Not exactly a win-win but something very
close. After unsuccessful attempts at trying to pinpoint what chapter was
important, I asked the million dollar question that wasn’t supposed to be the
million dollar question. How should they prepare for the exams?
His
answer was to read the book.
There
is a reason for students, especially international students, who don’t have
access to past papers, smart seniors and “source”, as you would like to call,
to avoid classes they deem difficult but necessary. There were courses which I really
wanted to take, however, with no available resources, I just had to take a
class that I could score way better and put a glossy, polished look on my GPA. How
the fuck am I supposed to learn with that anyways?
On
my final year, I am beginning to realize that degree is just a piece of paper.
A glossy, polished paper.
Same here in China
ReplyDeleteI think its worse there
DeleteGood points, man. Nice article.
ReplyDeletego study man hahahaha
Deletehahaha damn 4 exams on monday -.-
Delete