“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” – Albert Einstein “I have never let schooling interfere with my education.”- Mark Twain Once we allow ourselves a smirk and give a nod of approval for the quotes above, as it confirms the thoughts in the child within each of
Category: Adult
Where There is Reading There is Kindness, and Where There is Kindness There is Magic
Personally, I think it’s a form of torture to ask anyone to choose which five books they would take on a desert island. I mean, the Harry Potter series alone totals seven books. Nevertheless, it was a task we were asked to attempt in one module I studied at Exeter University. Studying why we read
A good education makes life very fulfilling
In an ideal world, the role of education would try to balance preparing students to cope with their working life while also giving them a liberal dose of varied ideas which hopefully would broaden their minds. In fact, school life is largely balanced in this regard as almost all key subjects from literature, to science,
Should the role of Education be to prepare students for working life or broaden their mind?
Education is the process of giving intellectual, moral, and social instruction to somebody. It can also be defined as training or giving information on a particular subject. To me, I say education is the art of equipping learners with knowledge and skills that they will use in their future life. Education has been widely used
The power of power
This famous statement reveals a bitter truth. In the world there are three classes of people and they are high class, middle class and lower class. Every single person of these classes faces different kinds of problems in their life. To survive they all need to cope with these difficulties and carry on with their
Character and Power, what a concoction
Referencing to my experiences and observations of the world, I agree with Mr. Lincoln statement, though I do oppose the beginning phrase that nearly all men can stand adversity. Firstly, Abraham Lincoln ruled before women’s rights were as active. Hence, we can’t blindly read and believe that he was using the term “men” as a
Normality Debunked
Why would any individual desire to be normal? Perhaps he or she is abnormal, according to a certain set of standards, and is reprimanded for being so. Hence, they try to achieve the norm. But what is normal? What differentiates an abnormal individual from a group of normal people? More importantly however, is being normal
The Absurd Hero’s Normalcy
Albert Camus was a French Algerian philosopher most notable for his writings about life’s absurdity and existentialism. Camus believes that “nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.” This normalcy that Camus writes about is perhaps the normalcy of struggling to continue living our repetitive and mundane lives, knowing that
Why History Matters
History is about change. It is the subject that contributes the most to the broadening out of the imagination. One of the purposes of the study of history is to help students transcend their own immediate experience and gain an understanding about how humanity has evolved and developed. It is ironic that when there is
Being normal
What do we mean by being normal? Does it mean being acceptable in society? Perhaps. And who by the way, composes the society? The Normal people. Who decides what’s acceptable? The Normal people. Heard about normalization? The simple term ‘normalization’ refers to adjustments made with intention of bringing entire probability distributions to a common scale.
The strong maybe
Barely a year ago, I hypothesized, “I have seen mundanities which make men act so crazy – wine and women, another maybe power. I have seen mundanities which make women act so crazy – money and women, another maybe power.” I made this hypothesis despite that then I was not an expert in history, politics,
Normal Is The New Skinny
I have curly hair. Thick, copper, unruly hair. Every morning I pause before checking myself out in the mirror, because for some reason I think that this morning I won’t have the pouf sitting atop my head, and that my hair will resemble that of Doris Day’s. However silly this practice may be, I find
Personality and power
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was certainly right when he said those words. The test of a man’s or a woman’s character is power. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So goes the saying. Power can seduce
The Role of Education: A Counselor’s Perspective
Although death and taxes are said to be the only two certainties in life, there is a third. One question will always challenge students entering college: Should they they get a general liberal arts education or focus on majors which could lead to a well-paying career? Shakespeare and drama? Monet and art appreciation? Or perhaps
Can We All Be Different Together?
“Nobody realises that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.” – Camus. It’s a terrific quote from Camus, isn’t it? Philosophical, sympathetic, even mournful. It’s loaded with potential debate on whether individual citizens could ever agree on a clear definition of “normal”, or if the result would be a worthy goal. Either way,
Examining education
“Should the role of education be to prepare students for working life, or to broaden their mind?” An optimistic reader will likely suggest one immediate response to this starchy inquiry: can education not do both? This essay will indeed argue that the two aims mentioned are not mutually exclusive, and can be achieved in parallel
Navigating normal
Normal. Six little letters with a differing definition entirely dependent on who you are and where you come from. Am I normal if I fit in or am I normal if I don’t stand out, and does the subtle difference matter anyway? Normal may equal unnoticeable, which to me projects a sense of neither fitting
From Weinstein to O’Reilly, Ghomeshi to Trump: What are we teaching our men?
Though sexual harassment and assault is nothing new, recent cases with increased visibility beg the broader question of how our society is teaching men to treat women. This past week, talented – and admittedly beloved – film mogul Harvey Weinstein joined the ranks of Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, Bill Cosby, and other men of power
When one’s inner self meets power – character is put to the test
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln Power is a very strong word. Not just in terms of the word, but with the control that comes with it. Not many are taught about handling the power given to them, because
Why would you fit in if you were born to stand out?
I love you, my friend, if you ever had to hear in your address: “You’re abnormal!”. You are lucky. I do not understand what people mean when they say that you are crazy! But I want to know – do they understand what the norm is? Many people spend half of their lives (or even