Saturday, September 10, 2005
@4:39 PM
THE JOYS AND PAINS OF SCHOOL LIFE
Almost everybody goes to school for the same reason, which is to learn stuff, make friends, blahblahblah.
And to be completely honest, I go to school for the same reasons - I go to school to learn new things which can be applied to real life as well as businesses next time and various personal problems ; I learn social and 'people' skills ; I make friends and learn how to deal with basically people ; most importantly, I learn how to endure.Really, I must say, when you go to school, you must be equipped with a rare skill most people do not have : Endurance.
To go through simple and basic school life and live to tell the tale, you must have endurance. For one, you have to endure the teachers.The teachers are the ones who practically rule the school. No matter what they say about cleaners and staff like that being a great addition to the school, the teachers are still the ones who call the shots. They are great, mighty, and whatever word you can come up with to call them. Some teachers are nice and friendly - that's why we celebrate Teachers' Day. But some are not. Reason? Nil. There is no reason for teachers to be mean or exceptionally strict. They just are.
Example One:(Keep in mind that any characters who bear an uncanny resemblance to certain teachers are all fictional and loosely based on real-life people.)
Teacher: YOU! YOU OVER THERE!
Student: (gulps)
Teacher X: Excuse me, but who do you think you are?(student here is actually the ringleader of a local gang named Ah Bengs, but turns timid at the sight of this particular Teacher X)
Student: I... am.. er, Ah Beng.
Teacher X: Did I ask you for your damn name?
Student: Er, yes.
Teacher X: How dare you contradict me!
Student: ...
Teacher X: Anyway, you are given detention!
Student: (in disbelief) For telling you my damn name?
Teacher X: NO. FOR STEPPING ON THE DAMN GRASS.
Student: !!!(Keep in mind that both teacher and student are stepping on a grass patch)
Student: Er.. Teacher X.. so are you.
Teacher X: Shut up!
Student: ...
Teacher X: Didn't you learn any Science? Do you know that grass are also living things? They are the reason we can live! They give out oxygen!Student: O_O
Teacher X: Grass, for life!
Student: .
I believe that illustrates what I am trying to tell you.Teachers are a great addition to the school. Yes, that's true. In fact, a school can't even be called a school without teachers.But some teachers are just so annoying. These teachers are the pains of school life.
What other pains of school life are there?
Well, how about cleanliness.Cleanliness is one thing teachers emphasize on. It is simply needed for a school to function properly. Of course, cleaners are also needed, but that's a different matter. When a school isn't clean, how will you find the school? An unclean school is just so different from a clean one.
Imagine going to the toilets and finding out that the toilets cannot be used because they are overflowing with rubbish right to the brim. Imagine stepping on trash once you step into the school. Imagine not being able to find a seat in the canteen because everywhere is filled with stains and such.
Thus, we find out here that sometimes cleanliness is absolutely necessary. And that's why we shouldn't blame the teachers if they keep insisting on cleanliness. But of course, the teachers should also co-operate.Wouldn't it infuriating if all teachers turn out to be huge hypocrites and are littering the school ground as I write?
Another pain of school life. Cliques.Making friends in school is like something you do everyday. Like eating, drinking, whatever. It is just a necessity. But isn't it maddening when people form cliques? Especially when the school is divided into these categories:
The Popular Kids.
The Rich And Snobby Kids.
The Nerds.
The Bad Guys.
The Independents.
The Untouchables.
I think of school as an eco-system. It has its groups, and each of them feeds off the others. You see, the reason people form groups is to fend off the enemy groups. Like, The Untouchables formed to keep off The Bad Guys. The Bad Guys form to fend off The Nerds. (You might be surprised to know that gangsters and such are terrified of nerds because they think nerds are all-knowing.) The Nerds form to fend off The Rich And Snobby Kids. And so on.
Whatever it is, cliques are not pleasant. With cliques in a school, there will definitely be a war from time to time.Thus, I conclude: Cliques are definitely a pain of school life.
If I carry on about the pains of school life, it will not be pretty and will make you lose your motivation to go to school. Also, if I were writing an essay and was stuck here, I will fail this essay.
Hence I am going to proceed to the next section of this entry: The joys of school life.
Like somebody famous once said, Nothing Is Impossible. Therefore it is not impossible to find someone who is willing to say "I love school!" for free. It is also not impossible to find someone to say "I absolutely love school!" or even "School is cool!".
This is because of something existing called "The Joys Of School Life."To be truthful, people who go to school are lucky people. Aka Lucky-Kias. To go to school is already a joy, actually. But what are the joys of school life? Aha, I am going to start writing about that.
The Joys Of School Life. First things first, grades.If you're a good student and is consistently hardworking, or if you go to a school like Nanyang, you will definitely consider grades as one of the joys of school life. When you work for your exams and get good grades in return, you will feel a sense of satisfaction that tells you, "You worked hard. You earned this grade. You deserve to earn it!" And this is the joy of school life. Not only in school, this 'joy' can be applied to other life situations too. Working hard, earning good grades and having that sense of satisafaction - now that is a joy of school life!
Another joy of school life is friends. Now this may seem contradicting to what I wrote about cliques just now, but friends are a joy of school life. When you get a bad report card, who is there to help and comfort you? Your friends. In this case, parents are not an option, since most parents just nag and scold you if you get a bad report card. Of course, friends may not be everything either. Very little people get to meet real friends - real, caring friends who just want the best for you. Real friends who are willing to stick through the thick and thins with you. Chances of meeting these people is scarce - but hey, if you can't find them in school, where else can you look? (This only applies to people who are still schooling - people who are not, you can go to an online forum and cross your fingers, because colleagues at work seldom turn out to be real friends.) A friend in need is a friend indeed - friends are definitely a joy of school life!
The last joy of school life on my list? Learning. I know this sounds especially cliche, but learning is a joy of school life. It is what you go to school for. And despite what people think, learning is a life-long process. (Yes, I know that sounds cliche, but whatever.) And learning is a joy of school life, because what you learn, you apply it to life situations and somehow, everything will turn out right. (If you learn the right thing, that is.) It is a joy because when you learn something, you are also upgrading yourself, and tell me, who doesn't want to be upgraded? Learning can be also fun, contrary to what most people think. It's fun if it isn't boring. We should all be thankful because learning is a joy of school life and that is what schools were built for anyway.
With this, I conclude my very long and boring blog entry, The Joys And Pains Of School Life
