Many people claim that education has significantly grown over the past fifty years. Contrastingly, a universal trend has long been on the rise; it stealthily limits what can be done with the education that people are sacrificing years of their lives to achieve. Today, there’s a secret to education.
It’s no Secret that the Education system is flawed
Ask any child over the age of twelve what they like most about school; you’ll probably hear the classical sounds of chirping crickets. Honestly, I don’t blame them. From the bitter correlation heartbreaks to the habitual history exams, these are the things that the majority of teenagers hate to endure. Almost every educational system in existence follows a routine like below.
From the age you can speak well enough (which is usually around 3) you are sent to kindergarten for 2 years. From there, you go to elementary school (which usually takes 7 years to complete). After that, it’s typical to spend another 5-7 years pursuing secondary education. But wait! It doesn’t end there. Imagine at this point in your life, you discover that all your experience being a student only counts as a solid foundation for future endeavors. The toughest part is yet ahead—an additional 3–12 years of university education to seal the deal.
When Education aint nothing
Take a look at a Lawyer—one of the more mentally demanding professions. The average individual will have to spend somewhere between 15-25 years “hitting the books” to pull this career off. Ah! So you are one of the few who manage to be “successful.” Good for you!
The following scenario would now most likely apply: After several months of sending out dozens of resumes, you finally secure that precious job interview. You put on your fancy suit, stroll into the company’s office, and when you finally meet the interviewer your years of education provokes you to say, “Give me a job now!” And the employer would reply, “Get your ass outta here! Education aint nothing! Where have you worked before?”
The Secret to Education
While the above isn’t groundbreaking news, let me share with you something that is. I wish I’d found out when I was two years old that being able to talk would let mummy and daddy think I was smart; I would have played dumb for eight more years, and first “learn” to speak at the age of ten. After all the doctors my parents took me to labelled me as a dumb-ass, I would have easily been able to accept that people would generally not expect anything from me.
Then following a great deal of home schooling I would have taught myself rocket science. Ten years later I would have created a revolutionary atomic bomb to plant at the center of the earth and surprise them all. BOOM! Problem solved—no more people worrying about having to spend all their youth chasing after candid uncertainties.
Yes, one side of me might always wish that I could play with explosives; but the other side tells me something different: Twenty five years of education really isn’t anything … but only if you’ve never learnt or been taught the secret to using it.
Why Education is pushed from the start
From the start, it’s pounded into our heads that we must go to school, get a good job, get married, take out a mortgage to buy a big house. Then take three loans to pay for the bright red sports car. Yet most people think that the groundwork to attaining all these things is just to get a superior education and then everything will magically fall into place. “Once I go to Harvard, I’ll be set!”
Newsflash! Unless are born into wealth, receive a huge inheritance, become a celebrity, or win a full scholarship, then chances are that upon returning from Harvard the only thing you’re going to be set with is high student loans and the pressure to find any job so you don’t end up scoundrel. And trying to survive while grovelling for work experience will ensure that a high percentage of those who take the aforementioned route end up long-term with those minimum wage jobs that send shivers through their soul.
Is Education really worth it?
The first thing most people aspire to do after they obtain their education is to work for company X. Why? Because they think they can climb their way up the corporate ladder and get everything in life they ever dreamed off. The only problem with this for some people is that even after they turn fifty and attain a top tier job title, they may still have a ball and chain securely attached to their leg: the notorious boss man or boss lady—the one who tells them how much air to breathe and how to jump.
And the longer they’re employed with a company and the more benefits they receive, the harder it’s going to be to convince themselves that they should ever leave. Life will be good on some days, but on others they’ll be grinding their teeth, wanting to tell their boss what to really do with that paperwork. Yet, they’ll never be able to speak their minds. Because the image of them or their families living on the streets will always make them think thrice. They’ll then gradually begin to wonder if all the sacrifices they made to attain their education were worth it.
Using Education to free yourself
With the thousands of degrees that people can choose from, it’s a shame there’s no BSc in Life. But not to worry, there’s still hope; you don’t have to sell your soul for a buck. Ask yourself: what do I really want in life? Do I want lots of money or do I want to be happy? And note, if you’re the typical individual just starting out you can’t have both.
If you prefer money before anything else, then I’ll gladly wrap the ball and chain around your ankle myself. I’ll even make sure there aren’t any witnesses when you mysteriously take the plunge into the sea. If you prefer happiness and true fulfillment, then I suggest using your education to start your own business or build your own brand by offering something of value to others. No matter which degree you have, even if you don’t have one at all, you can make it in your own “corporate world” once you take the right steps.
Start small
You’ve probably heard it before, you only need to start small in anything that you do. Believe it or not, a street vendor has a high chance of making more money than someone with years of experience in a good office job; the vendor can determine how much he/she is worth by working as hard as he needs to, rather than working hard for someone and only hoping they will throw you a bone.
Thriving from the bottom
We see it in the movies: A teacher would stroll into a fast food restaurant with a handful of students and approach the counter. “Can I get some fries and coke?” No declaring the word, please. She just really wants her coke. Then she’d turn to her young flock afterwards and say, “See what happens when you don’t pay attention in school?” referring to the clerk who is willingly doing his job, of course.
The children would all giggle heedlessly to complement their role model, a teacher of all people. See the garbage that can stem from being too “educated”? And it’s usually the same people who look down at those in such positions who can’t stand to see others move up in life. Somehow they find it unnatural that someone could actually improve their lives while thriving within the alleged bottom scope.
There’s more to life then being a CEO
Too many people have long been hoodwinked into thinking that the only way they can be successful in life is to have a name-tag saying “CEO” or “Senior Manager.” Anything less is inferior. This form of thinking is asinine, and can be extremely detrimental to humankind.
Imagine what would happen if we had millions of people walking about thinking that they’re more intelligent than everyone; and they automatically believe they deserve to be treated with more respect than anyone who doesn’t wear a certain type of clothes or shoes. But wait, no need to imagine, that’s reality! Many “highly educated” people have been so institutionalized that they read from text books that tell them 2 + 2 is equivalent to 4, never once stopping to ask themselves why the answer couldn’t be 22.
Use Education to live a more meaningful life
Truth is, education and employment are two very different things. Where jobs are concerned, as long as you have a higher goal in life, no occupation will ever be an awful one. Because each day you wake up knowing that you won’t be in that one place forever.
It’s only when you think you’re so educated that you’ll need someone to give you a great job to validate who you are, that you become blind to the things that are priceless: volunteering, helping people, not working because you have to but because you want to, and always seeing yourself as an equal to everyone else. That’s the only way to truly become educated and live a most meaningful life.
