The value of education

If people ask me, “are you happy with your life?” I will answer, “Not really”. Most of my friends don’t understand. They will be very happy if they can get good grades, if they can have money to spend, or if there are many people watching on and caring about them. Since I was young, I had been told, “It is nobody but you who are responsible for yourself, for what you think and act” So I always try hard to avoid any mistakes and work hard for perfection. My life is full of stress--that is true. I hardly complaint in front of my family, because I know what they will say—“crying is useless, and compliance symbolizes failure” However, this semester, I think, I have changed some. I have complained sometimes. ^_^

Here, I would like to write down something about my teacher, Dr.Linchong, who teaches me Business Research Writing this semester. She is the first teacher in my life who encourages me to make  mistakes. I was so shocked at the first time when she told me to try to make mistakes. “I want you be happy and relaxed.”—that was what she said to me. For her class, I must work hard but really enjoy, and I am becoming more relaxed and friendly to people around. I even made some mistakes at the end of the semester. I forgot to submit my assignments which caused me being busy 2 days for late work. When I told her about this, she laughed and said, “Good! You can learn something from your mistakes! If you never make mistakes, you won’t know how to make a progress.”

As a qualified teacher, I think, she knows clearly that education is not an end, but a means to an end. That is to say, she doesn’t educate her students only for the purpose of educating them; in contrast, her purpose is to fit her students for future life. For example, young people can make a promise easily but break easily as well. For her, she tries to educate us that those who keep their word become the most important members of an organization. Whenever people make a promise, be sure to keep it; when people keep their promise, no matter how much effort it takes, they will be rewarded. So whenever she promises us to do something, she never breaks her words. Her job involves long hours and great pressures, but she never shows her tiredness in front of us and never blames her problems on someone else. This is a sign of considerable maturity, and many people should have self-discipline such as this.  She goes all the way to educate us what responsibility, punctuality, promise, success, humor, dignity and glory is by setting an example for us through speaking sincerely and behaving truthfully. In other words, the object of her education is the formation of character.