We often label people by
what kind of work he or she does. When we meet a student, whom we don』t
know a thing about, most of us judge him or her by what school he or she
goes to. If we hear that he or she is from NTU, we immediately think of
all the good virtues associated with the best students, such as smart,
outstanding, reliable, so on and on. But if he is from an unpopular
private school, we might think he is a worthless scum that just happened
to land on a college. These are all prejudices. We can』t just evaluate
someone by these kinds of shallow information.
Take myself for example, I didn』t do every well in high school, my
grades were always far from satisfactory. My parents didn』t push me
every much, as long as I do not drop below average. Still, grades were
like a taboo in the house or anywhere else. I didn』t want anyone to
mention my grades and pray that no one would pick the subject up. I was
too embarrassed, I guess. But after I got accepted to NCU, everything
changed. People started to congratulate me, telling me what great work
I must have done. And when I told this to strangers, they often assumed
that I must have been an A+ student in high school. How ironic, from an
average grade, I suddenly became a straight A student, which I never had
been.
I
felt quite odd at first, letting people think of me as someone I』m not.
But after experiencing life in college, I really don』t care anymore.
Because grades are not my first priority now. I didn』t care if people
see me as an Honor Role student or an ineffective punk. I want to be
who I choose to be. I want my days to be fulfilling and not just to
stick my nose in books. Studying and gaining knowledge is essential,
and so are other life experiences. I might not have excellent grades,
but I』m sure I』m living my college life to its fullest extent.
Taiwan students are often pressured by these narrow-minded thoughts.
They work endlessly in order to get into a good college. You ask them
why, they』ll say because their parents wanted them to and they wanted to
make their parents proud. They have no idea what they want for
themselves, they』re just going with the tide. All these 「Good school,
good student」 talk is confusing the students. What they really need is
to make their own decisions by choosing the departments they are
genuinely interested in. As to the other people, they need to hold back
their prejudices and just let the students find their own course of
life.