Today, again, some teachers asked me, "why don't your kids go to our school?" Another teacher, who is leaving just as his kids become school-age, told me, "I wouldn't want one of my kids at this school."
"Me neither," I told him, "what we are producing is workaholics, not learners."
Poo asks, "why is there so much pressure at your school? There is pressure on everybody. I think the students feel it even more than the teachers."
"I don't know," I tell her, "I think you're right about the students, though. They tell me, 'Mr. Mick, you have no idea how much pressure our parents are putting on us!'"
"I suppose," I continued to Poo, "the parents talk about their kids at their cocktail parties, stick their noses into the air and say:
'My son is going to Harvard!'
Well, my daughter is going to Oxford.'
and that's where the pressure comes from."
"Hmmph," said Poo as she was finishing her ironing, "next time they say that, I want you to stick your nose in the air and say:
'My son is going to Nidhiprinya School!'
It's true. It's a ramshackle place with two buildings, one brand new (a building burned down last year under mysterious circumstances--Poo suspects it was a scam to get insurance money). Thun will never taste air-conditioning there. But he loves school, respects his teacher, learns his times tables, and he is self-disciplined, polite, and most importantly, happy.
So, I love Nidhiprinya School!
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3 comments:
So true.
Following my "appaling" trial results of 37, my mom trashed me saying "It's already embarassing how you didn't get into (prestigious uni X), don't make me more embarassed by not meeting (less prestigious uni Y)'s condition".
It's like the only reason I'm taking exams in May is to give my parents bragging rights.
I'm not only a year 13 Zombie. I'm a year 13 Zombie 2 people live vicariously through.
well said!
i hope you can express yourself mathematically as well as you do in english!
That's funny. I read it, 20 minutes later, my dad called me in to scream at me about my "horrible" result of 36 out of 42 for my latest IB report. And he refuses to listen to excuses. I keep trying to tell him that the teachers pile on so much work its impossible to get a good grade on everything, because you simply don't have enough time to do everything properly. But no, he doesn't listen, and insists on how much harder he worked when he was younger (According to my cousin, his old school, the most prestigious Thai school in Thailand (Triam Udom), doesn't even give much homework.). He also compares me to other people, without considering the sort of teachers I have for my standard levels, and how nasty they are when it comes to grades. (Note to self: Why did I not choose economics instead of history?)
And, for goodness' sake, this isn't even going on the transcript. He's acting like I just started a nuclear war or something
He also insists I apply for Cambridge next year, even though I insist that I don't have a chance of getting in, and I'd be better off using my 4th UCAS med-school slot for something slightly easier.
Even my ego(TM) doesn't care about going to Cambridge - in fact, it doesn't matter to my ego(TM) if I get to Havard OR if I get to somewhere less prestigious, as long as I don't get rejected by every uni. Heck, my ego(TM) would be satisfied if I just make the cut and get accepted by any med school.
When I was discussing my UCAS choices with my dad (for next year), I made up my mind about 3 choices pretty quickly (ICL, KCL, U East Anglia). I then dithered on my third choice, wondering whether to consider Bristol, Liverpool, Nottingham, UCL or Southampton as my fourth UCAS choice. My dad insisted on Cambridge. He wouldn't budge on the issue. And said he would be very angry if I wouldn't put Cambridge on my UCAS form in September/October.
Heck, he even says that Imperial's Medical school is better, but still insists that I should pick Cambridge as a first choice. According to him - because I'd get a better social life. According to me - because its way cooler for him to brag about getting a son to Cambridge's Med school to the 20 or so doctors in the family.
Thanks for reading this rant.
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