Of Uno, Dos and Tres; Where did our education fled? I have been studying for 13 years now. During those years, I’ve loved and despised the concept of learning. As years passed by, it seemed like I need to upgrade the capacity of my brain to take in all the new information and facts from school. It was like my head’s going to explode anytime soon. But despite all these, I still strived and worked harder just to make my way through it all.
Now that I am in my tertiary level, as I cram for examinations and all that it is good for, it dawned upon me that maybe I’ve lost the essence of education. It felt like learning was not in my vocabulary anymore. It seems like learning and education were gone. One day I was enrolling for that and the next I don’t know anymore. Where did it go?
During my earlier years in school, I am not keenly aware of the grades that I am getting. I remember that I was just eager to go to school during those times because of the thrill and new experience. Even though my mom strictly taught me the lessons that I should learn, I still enjoyed the process.
Then elementary level came. I’ve found myself studying on my own already. I also paid attention to the honor list of our class. But that didn’t hinder me in appreciating the things that I’m coming to know. At this point of my education, I still enjoy the wonder of not being familiar of a thing one day then the other day came and I’m already being introduced to that. It was such a pleasure and amusement. Realizing that we are born with the wonders of the world and are able to explore and study them in order for us to use them in living our life’s purpose. For me, this is the essence of education.
We started learning at home with all those do’s and don’t’s and other basics. Then we entered school expecting that we are going to be able to acquire and instill in our minds a variety of worldly knowledge that would enlighten us with the reality. Understanding and Comprehension that would guide us in further reaching of our dreams.
Secondary level took over and I was brought to a whirlwind of events. The lessons got tougher to understand, broader to analyse, and plentier to absorb. Pressure also became present as people around me became oblivious of the competition in the honors. And suddenly, grades became superior. All we’ve ever strived for was to get the highest grade possible. We jot down notes and we memorized for recitations and examinations. We didn’t try to get the concept of those things and we just remember the surface. We remembered. But we didn’t really learn. We just fought our way through the academic system and through the honor list. It is now a disappointment that grades are all that matters to us.
Now that I am nearing the end of my first year in the tertiary level, with all the shame that I can show, I admit that this process is still occurring. I’ve crammed a lot during this school year because of examinations, projects, and other requirements and yet, I can’t tell if I’ve learned enough. I think I didn’t get all the knowledge that I really deserve to know. The only thought that is continuously running in my mind like crazy is that I must never get a GPA lower that 2.25 for it is a retention policy in my course. Yes, I’ve been informed of insights that I haven’t known before. But we didn’t even finish a book which we’re required to buy. What if those that we weren’t able to tackle are the things that would be useful to us in the future? What would that make us? Where would that put us?
It is really a chagrin and infamy that we tend to become more worried with the grades that we are going to get instead of the wisdom and understanding that we should have in our time spent for education. I am aware that those grades would really become conducive when we’re to look for our jobs in the future. But, will we be able to live up the equivalence of those grades in real life? Would that grades be able to define our true personality and intelligence?
Now, I challenge you and myself to come and think of this. Are we going to let this phenomenon continue and waste lives or are we gonna start with ourselves and influence other people to do the same? Let us decide before Spanish numbers completely haunt us and education has totally fled to nowhere we can find it. -Jessarene Depante