} the sieve

yesterday a friend posted on her facebook something to the effect of: "if only schools taught us that it is OK to fail, then maybe life would not be so difficult."

a similar thought had been hovering in my head recently, probably because i am currently being subjected to the cruel and unusual punishment known as the bar exams. the other day i also read another friend's blog who had posted an entry saying that she does go an extra mile in her studying, but without consciously acknowledging that she is actually aiming for something more than just a Pass.

i can sympathise with that. somehow, somewhere in our brains, we have the objective judgment and common sense that tells us that, you know, you only need to do *this* much if you want to pass. but we still move on to read more and understand more than what is basically necessary. all the while, i think, there is a subconscious desire to excel fighting with a subconscious irrational fear that even all this will not be enough to Pass.

i think the combination of the two is how we get the Hermione-esque type of character, the person who panics that s/he will fail the exam for sure but who ends up with an A. (this is also how Novita still owes me a car.)

But.. going back to the first statement. What IS the worst thing about failing anyway? Half of us doing these bar exams are just going through the motions. Somewhere in our secret cupboard we stash dreams of another life - where we are painting, travelling the world, working for that NGO, opening a cafe. or, you know, just not working that hard. just working that 9-to-5 job and going home to a spouse and kids. maybe you are a semi-pro cook in your spare time, and could take part in Masterchef. why do i need to be a lawyer?

but is it really OK for schools to tell us that it is OK to fail? i feel like schools are only preparing us for what the world and society expects of us. and while i don't have the research or the evidence, i suspect there just isn't enough of a support system for the people who do fail. we grow up like in a massive sieve, and a lot of people do fall through the cracks along the way, as we move up. most of us now doing these bar exams, we're at the very apex, we have made it. (made it where? i don't know.)

what happens to the ones who got lost along the way? i consider myself a pretty open-minded person, but i also find it difficult sometimes to not think in this way. most other people, surely, are just as happy as i am, or happier. that should have more value in this world (happiness), but it doesn't. most people do turn out OK, even if society doesn't think so. it's sad that the heroes in our childhood stories (think Bob the builder, postmen, firemen and policemen, bus drivers and train drivers) - their professions are associated with people of a lower class and a lower intellect. especially the builders and construction workers. why should this be the case? after all, they are doing the back breaking work so the rest of us can run around in our suits in a building that would not collapse if we miss the deadline (no, it won't).

and then the people who, objectively, don't turn out OK - the kids who become drug mules or runners for loan sharks. if the illegal trades have to support these people, clearly there just isn't enough of a support system here in, you know, our world. the safe one.

(unable to continue because this is making me too angsty :|)

2012-12-06, 10:28 a.m..
before } after