These months, February and March, are the entrance exam season for certain graders in Japan. I experienced this season twice when entering to high school and university. Both two years were stressful years. I don’t want to experience these again any more.
I grew up in a family who values the higher education. I felt I was in a constant competition. The competition was both in school and family.
I was a constant loser in the family competition regarding studying. My brother was a constant winner.
My brother was born smart. I never saw him studying at home. I mean it. Never. After school he would always engaged himself with something fun. The majority of hisclassmates attended at the private cram schools after school, he never went to a cram school. He would take good scores in tests in school no matter what. He easily passed the entrance exam at the highest leveled high school in our area. I don’t think he ever felt stress regarding studying. He already had all the knowledge, I guess.
As for me, I somehow managed to pass the entrance exam at the high school of the third from the top. I was far away from my brother’s smartness. I had felt stress regarding studying. I made efforts in memorizing. At least, I spent lots of time studying.
While I was young, I was not matured enough to decide my own way of life. My parents suggested me to go to the higher leveled high school and the higher leveled university. So I just followed their suggestion without thinking much.
If I were smart enough to know myself in my youth days, I would choose to learn something more specific, such as massage therapy or cooking, or even art.
Based on my experience, I want to be open for my daughter about her options. I don’t put much emphasize on higher educations. Rather, I want her to be open to discover her unknown abilities and possibilities. In my personal opinion, higher education is not the only option. It suits to certain people, but to everyone. Everyone deserves to discover their unknown abilities and possibilities.
♬ Any feedback? (^^♪
three wisdom 