Monday, October 4, 2010

Happiness In Education

When people think of education it is not always a pleasant thought. There is so much build up on the negative traits about school and not much positive traits about school. With such great build up even “12 year old children already [made] a clear distinction between work and play, a distinction that stays with most of us for the rest of our lives. It is very clear to children that their education is about schoolwork, homework, and hard work.” (Sharhar 91). The school’s education system makes everyone think that English, math, and science are the most important aspect, but what about the arts and things that students enjoy doing. I rarely find happiness in education, but I will learn to achieve some happiness in my education now and the future.
            Since elementary school till now all the major exams such as the city wide exam, regents exams, SAT, ACT are all focused around the mathematics and English areas. The only exam that I have taken that was in the Arts and a subject that I really took pleasure in was art, and that was because I was in AP Art.  I was never good in chemistry and was always anxious about the upcoming exams or projects. I would practice and practice and it did pay off, but only after the exams and projects were over did I feel relief.
Currently a class I am taking is psychology, I am not sure if I am good at it or bad at it, but I do what I can to enjoy it. There is a lot of reading along with my homework from other classes, but as I take my time reading and taking notes everything becomes more interesting. Rushing quickly through the chapters will not allow me to gain any new knowledge. When I understand something I am a bit more delighted than when I do not understand something. While I read carefully the contexts in the textbook is clear and I can comprehend what it is talking about. If I feel like I am overwhelmed by all my homework I would do something that I enjoy to relive my stress such as cooking.  
Another way that makes me feel a bit happier is when I’m not good at certain things whether its school work or outside of school; I would still put all my effort into it. I would try to accomplish it even though my thoughts might be “I cannot do this, give up, it is too hard…” but that would not make me feel happy. After putting in the best that I can into it, but might still fail in some ways it is fine. Because I did all that I could. On the other hand, if I kept on at it I would start to stress and feel anxious.
I believe that by participating in something you enjoy makes you a bit happier. Mostly when you are challenged or under challenged in that subject area you would start to dislike school even more. But with a subject you enjoy it is a way to get away from subjects that you’re stressing over and worrying about constantly. Also, by putting in the effort to at least try new things and just be proud of what you have accomplished. What I want is to have “present gain, [and] future gain” (Sharhar 87) in my education.


  1. Hey =]
    I can really connect to your situation about reading a lot for your classes. That can be very long and stressful. I find your last paragraph strong because it connects to the whole concept of how to improve being happy in school. However, you forgot to put in a thesis, a statement that you are arguing for. As the last statement of your first paragraph you can write about how doing things you enjoy brings happiness in education. I suggest rereading your entry because there are a few grammar mistakes. I liked how you mentioned that math and science aren't the only two subjects that matter and that doing what you like would help you become engaged. To relate to that point you can connect it to the video we watched and it will make your point stronger.

  2. Hello, I am Lin, and I am sitting next to you right now and commenting on your blog. You make your blog entry on time. Congratulation! Bt the way, I make mine on time, too. I read the entry, and I find out something. You don't like the chemistry, and you are worried about the test and projects. I want to tell you one thing is I am good at all science subjects. We really should attend the high school together. Therefore, I can give you a hand in chemistry homework and projects. Let me come back to the blog now. I suggest you to put a comma in front of "and" because that is the gramma rule. And, again, Huiting, I can not figure out the last paragraph is your conclusion or not because it is long and I kind of thinking it is another body paragraph. ^.^

  3. There was some weird technical problems going on. It is suppose to be 2 paragraphs and I fixed it.

    I will come looking for you when I need help with chemistry,thanks.

  4. Very interesting Hui Ling! I think you did a very nice job. Just continue to revise and look for places you can "smooth" out the prose.

  5. Hey Hui Ling,
    I found your blog to be very interesting, i like the way you support your theses in connecting it to your life. Try to focus on your grammar, I suggest to proof read! Trust me it help a lot!
    Good job Hui Ling :)