Education

Years ago my husband and I planned to take our daughter to Canada for better education. We both have experienced the situations that I am writing about in Scenario 1. Therefore, we hoped our daughter to grow up and experience going to high school that is more like the school in Scenario 2:

Here is what we were told in high school in China - Scenario 1: “Are you aware that there are only 3 years left for you all to prepare for the final examination which will decide your future? If you succeed and enter a good university, then you will be a winner. Do you want to be a winner or a loser? All is up to you! Therefore, you need to cram and work really hard, memorize and hold onto your knowledge.”

Here is what my daughter and her classmates in Canada were told - Scenario 2:

“Congratulations on your start of grade 10^th. It’s the right time to think about your future career and hope you can do what you are interested in and enjoy your life. University is not the unique choice. Some students like hamburgers and want to work in MacDonald’s for a while (laughing) because it’s a good job! I know that many of you still have no idea of what you want to study but don’t worry! There are a series of specialty courses, like one called entrepreneurship, offered in our school. Other such courses are, for example, accounting, architecture, and electronics. What you need is just putting yourself into the role rather than memorizing, and you will get a clear picture and eventually find your favourite subject. Believe in yourself! ”

There is a huge gap between these two scenarios, isn’t there? Fortunately, we escaped from the situation in Scenario 1 to the school in Scenario 2. Now our daughter is studying happily in Canada, and we believe she will be happy forever!