Response to Sophia's Blog

Sophia's Blog: An adventure in pursuit of happiness.

Honestly, I have never enjoyed reading a blog as much as I enjoyed reading Sophia's "I'm taking a gap year". As I read through Sophia's blog I realized that she views the world in a different light, which I think is a rare talent in itself. Her tone throughout her posts makes me question myself, "Am I living the life I want? or am I just following the herd? Am I in the right path to my personal success of happiness? Am I even happy right now? As I indulge myself into her writing I asked myself more and more deeper questions.
Her post: Facebook Persona, is one of my favorite written works from the seven posts. The reason being that she responded to judgments with ease. In my blog post: High School: The Realm of Countless Judgement I bluntly claimed that everyone is surrounded by inevitable judgments and that we are all victims and culprits to this unfortunate factor. But, in response, Sophia expanded my viewpoint on this topic. She answered every judgement (party goer, rich traveler, creative, strange music, free, and too open) with reasoning. Her replies were simple and honest. Initially, I had believed that people should avoid making judgments all together but Sophia presents another solution; Honesty. Her simple reasoning made me realize that this issue can be solved, probably even more effectively, through Honesty. Honesty influences people to think differently, a different mindset, that is vital in trying to change people and ultimately preventing judgments. Sophia's insight in this post made me see these kinds of problems into an interesting perspective.
Another Post: QB Short Story. I enjoyed this personal post as it showed me a 'slice of Sophia's life'. I have to say, I acknowledge and envy the fact that she has the courage to post personal posts like these. It is difficult to share personal stories online (especially with people reading it as an assignment). I chuckled a few times when the said, "Ah Sofi! Mountain girl came down from de mountains", and "It's not a Korean School darling, there just happens to be a few around." But the one quote that sticks to me is when she responded to the statement 'you don't need to go to college' saying "No, I do. There's no point in me wasting all that time in the Himalayas then". My initial impression of this quotation made me question whether if she thought WS or even education was a waste of time but later I realized that she was being more serious than I have previously thought. I think this because the statement was that she didn't need to go to college but she responded (she interrupted her own thoughts) with a no. If this was a just-an-ordinary friendly chat she could have easily said, "I know right? I should just quit" basically cracking a joke but, the fact is, she didn't do that when she could have easily agreed. Her tone throughout the post tells me, as reader, that she had put in a considerable amount of time into this thought. Knowing her as a friend, I know that she disliked being in WS, or in an educational system in general, for a very long time because it made her feel trapped into something she didn't believe and enjoyed. But as time passed I saw her grow out of it and accepted what was given to her but what I still admire most is that she will never change character despite the contradictions. She is open, brutally honest and distinctive in her way of thinking (she's proud of this, and I think that she should be. She shouldn't be judged for it rather we should learn from it). Through this post I strongly believe that in this vast ocean people we all should learn to accept that there are people, unique people, that we all could learn from. 

Why Education Reform?

One can say I come from an interestingly diverse background. I'm born in Korea, living in Egypt and studying in India. Even before Egypt I used to live in Lancaster, England and Manila in the Philippines. People like me, who have traveled and lived in different countries, are commonly labeled as TCK (Third World Kid). We TCK's have something in common that make us think slightly differently than others. It's that, as students, we are educated in so many different schools from different countries with various unique education systems; learning, understanding, interpreting and experiencing differently.

I was educated in the Philippines where there were no standards of any sort; no tests, quizzes but rather conversations. We talked about what we learnt, we questioned and receive insight from others (Grading was based upon the participation throughout the week in accordance with the relative topic). In England I was educated in the British System which is closely correlated to the American Education system but in the particular school I was enrolled in, we had classes such as general knowledge class, dance class, public speaking class which are not general classes in the common education system. In Egypt school ended early and we were to participate in real life experience part time jobs of your passionate choice (experience was the primary purpose of this enrichment). And last but not least, Woodstock School in India which have enrichment programs that go on throughout the week (similar to the 'part time job' idea). But several questions came up to my mind every time I studied through different education systems. Why are there standard education systems (relative to the widely used American Education System) designed to make students better fit for what society needs/demands? If individuality, freedom of choice and expression is so promoted and encouraged why are students not given the option to learn what they are passionate about in school? Why are subjects like the arts avoided by students in fear of being 'unsuccessful'. Why are students only limited to certain subjects and why are they the only subjects accepted in society? 

With these questions in mind, I came to the conclusion that the current education system is outdated and unfit for the society.