Everyone is allowed to have dreams, ambitions and aspirations...
After all, it is free.
It is better to have some dreams, some ambitions and aspirations than to have none at all.
"For men, without dreams and visions, will perish..."
This doesn't mean that if you do not have any dreams, ambitions or visions right now, you will die. NO...
It simply means that inside each of us, we would have lost the goal, and purpose of why we are living this life...
A lot of you at this present moment could be thinking that studies are really boring, troublesome, painful, tiring, pointless and not fun at all...
A lot of you may also think that how you would wish you would never ever have to study, to learn or to go to school... Instead, you would love to have all day before the television, computer games and more...
May I ask, if no one is keen to learn, then who will be the ones to replace the old doctors, lawyers, prime ministers, politicians, engineers, scientists, teachers, chefs, technicians, principals, astronauts, soldiers, officers, policemen, civil defence officers, pilots, sailors and more?
There will come a point of time whereby the world needs new and young people to be included so that we may carry on the many good things we now see in life.
Imagine a world without new doctors - many will die from diseases...
Imagine a world without teachers - many knowledge, skills and arts will be lost...
Imagine a world without you, the learners - the world we know will go back to ice age or prehistoric moments maybe?
Learning now doesn't mean we just want you to have As and Bs on your report books... We simply hope that through these basic things you learn in life, as you go on to be older, you will gain more knowledge and a better understanding of what you are good in and what you love... Then, you will have a better idea of what kind of future and ambitions you would want to have for yourselves... Learning is a lifelong process after all.
Yes, we all have subjects we are weak in, or rather dislike. However, you got to ask yourselves this.
Since when did you start hating a subject? Was it when you started failing?
Of course, nobody enjoys failing, but hey, if you continue to hate and dislike the subject, and always run away from it, aren't you being a coward in the first place? How will running away from a subject you didn't do well make anything or even you feel better?
You will only feel worse as you have more sense of failure and no success...
Why not try a new approach? Make friends and be on good terms with the subjects and do what you can to 'defeat' the challenging problems along the way? At least, when you improve, you feel greater sense of joy and confidence!
So, is learning just all about studying for good grades? I would rather think of it as a task for me to feel that I am capable of achieving improvements for myself. I do so just to make myself feel good. It's really up to you. No one can change how you think, but only you yourself.
For me, I choose to love learning, as well as teaching, because I see myself playing a part to continue on what I love... Even if you don't like to learn, I would still love teaching and learning on my own. It's my choice to make. I choose the kind of response and attitude I want to have towards my life, society and the future of the world.
What about you?
Written by: Mr Ken Yeoh
