ed·u·ca·tion
ˌejəˈkāSH(ə)n/
noun
- 1.the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.
"a new system of public education"
synonyms: teaching, schooling, tuition, tutoring, instruction, coaching,
training, tutelage, guidance;
- 2.an enlightening experience.
"a day with those kids was an education in patience and forbearance"
I am eighteen, struggling my way to pave down the path to future days which only He knows, yet by now calling herself a life-long learner. And this is the story how things around me changed over the period of time to then it altered my definition of one word that is so simple and also such a burden in mind; education. This is why I copied the whole definition (and also how one should pronounce it!J) and hoping that you will pay attention to each word because it really plays important role here.
Let me take you back to the time I was sitting the last year of primary school. I was this silent nerd you wouldn't want to talk to even if it's an emergency. I went to school, took notes in the class, submitted the assignments in time, participated less in the group project, and rather ended up reading books which should've been read for young adults (relax, it is sci-fi books, not those romantic chick-lits) than spent time eating in the canteen. Teachers called me up to join science fairs, math olympiads, and also bunches of drawing and writing competitions. And if you check my report book you would be curious about the way a kid could study to achieve scores that were stably well in top 1% in the class. Well, I can safely say I only followed the rules and the system that was applied. Later to graduation and national exam result day, it was no shocking that I achieve 'good enough' score to apply in the best accredited junior high school in the province which I got in then.
But what changed then? Well, I still was the not-so-noisy barks in school nor a fan of going to canteen over the chance of finishing a book, but I barely followed the system of studying in class and reviewing what I had before at home anymore. I lost it. In the contrast of what should’ve happened to me, I was a girl who got scores higher than average while all I did other than school was only reading books which were not so supporting my academic progress or browsing things on my phone. Then they called me kind-of-prodigy, I could've been the smartest one, the genius, the magical kid while all I ended up was a student with piles of Conan files and sci-fis and cooking recipes. But I understood what they meant that time, well, at least I think I did. They wanted me to work things harder than I did so I could achieve better but there was something that bothered me so much.
I was curious and it grew so rapid and enormous. And answering the probability that might pop out in your mind by now, no I was not curious about bad things that could swap me to kind of 'bad' kid. It’s something out of common such as in the time of year when all my friends were curious how to count the flow of fluid in physics, I was curious how atom was initially found and how radioactive was developed later on. Or when all of them were memorizing parts of the nerve system, I was reading too far about Euclid's early life. Or even in the middle of semester break when all of them would enjoy the holiday, I ended up trying to understand Tesla's inventions.
It started by that, and then planting a belief that I've learned more about life and science (which I love sincerely) more than I did in formal education which then made me hating the way system worked and how education in Indonesia affected too much on how one should think and be curious. That belief shaped and destroyed me at the same time, by cracking my scheme of study which lead to the fall of my scores but handing me out something so potential to change my whole mind. I learned a value of how studying should take place, that all my years of studying before was spent following the system and only that system of grasping the lecture I have got in class and never got out of the tracks. I knew I was wrong but the big problem is, where did I go wrong?
Years go by with that mindset and broken hope of me being the magical kid, I was believed to have minimum score to pass in national exam if I did not work harder than I was. That was one and a half month before the real test took place and I heard that no good enough school would want to accept my minimum score from the last simulation test, so tried proving them wrong. Fast forward, I got almost perfect score which got me accepted in the greatest school regionally, even known nationally as a recognized great high school. And to spoil, my average score in the simulation was 31,25 and I got accepted with 38,00 which was surely insane! But that was not the real deal. I still have a mindset of studying in formal education and following Indonesian education system was not good and I decided to keep on being never-really-study but I was trying to be so active in so many things. At least, I trained myself for the soft skills I would need, I thought that time. But in simple note, you can assume that I hated schools and how education system worked that I rejected almost all of the formal-related-things I was not agree based on words from Einstein and Ignacio Estrada.
Let us just say there was a time I loathed anything related to formal educations. I debated with friends in debate club about that but then continued to argue with ones outside that circle, I wrote something on the internet based on my own research of education, I refused to submit tasks I didn’t think should be given, and else. Basically, I was opposing them all who did not walk the same road as I did. I was no longer the prodigy they thought I was.
Taking you back to my time when I was reading about PISA and researching other countries' various ways to teach their students, Google page six (I still remember everything though), the last link was this: Belajar Untuk Nilai atau Untuk.. and I decided to clicked that in case there was good information provided. I read the whole article and thinking,"This is a really great article," which kind of lead me to read every article written in the blog. But I kept wondering what was Zenius? What was the whole thing I was reading? Why they sounded so right and held the same principle as I did?
You might guessed what I did next. I checked the main page, clicking every link that would give me proper understanding and then I saw the video. It was...it was nothing that I thought it would be. It was everything that I thought proper to fulfill my need of understanding materials at school but in the same time feeding the hunger of my curiosity. And the blog; it was perfect source of reading things I thought I would only find in international websites or foreign ones. And then I watched about Zenius Learning which completely fitted the puzzle. After several times watching the videos and visiting the blog, I made up my mind to purchase subscription. I thought it would have complicated procedure but again, I was wrong. The service was unbelievably fast and easy as I only clicked several links and waited and the service arrived in my e-mail (I used zenius.net) - yaaay! The only things I found less in their service is that it easily signs out or the fact that one cannot directly ask something to the tutors. But overall, Zenius promises amazing service of education other than formals.
Zenius has changed my view of education, of how one should not stop learning, of how one should be learning the right way that is best rather than just memorizing and never understanding the concept of which one is learning. As the days went, my scores were getting stable uprising and I found myself not hating the schools. I think I understand why I hated school back then, or I never liked the idea of studying. It was not the school nor it was not the teacher. It was me not grasping the definition of education itself. These years before, all I knew about studying was about getting the lectures stuck in your mind so you would do well in tests but Zenius helped my research of the answer.
If you are struggling to decide whether or not it’s going to be worth it for you to join Zenius, and if you think it works for me because you think I am a special case, you are totally wrong. Zenius helps a lot, in every way you need, no matter who you are and where you are from. All you need is a willing (and actually internet to be realistic) and things will go well soon and please do not assume you are different than me that you will achieve differently. So, just open your mind and be optimistic for yourself.J
Education is not a formal process of studying, education is an enlightening experience of understanding complex thing around you at your will and it can be done in so many ways possible even in the way you never thought was one. I am no longer paying attention for words like prodigy, genius, and magical. What I believe now, is that if I am passionate about particular thing, as long as it’s a good thing, I will chase down the road no matter what it takes. It’s no longer, or even I can say that it’s never just about me, it’s about the world and what it holds for us to come. Education is a way to change mind and with an enlightened mind itself, one can change the world.
By now, I do not know what the future holds, but I decide to make science and environment as a target in the long run. I aspire of building proper life not only in the city but also in rural areas which is why I will pursue Architecture or Planning as my interest grows in both and widely in environmental science, design, and sociology (Zenius also helped me about this here and here). I am now studying for national exam which is approaching soon, starting to prepare for SBMPTN, revising for IELTS which I got 7.5 for the latest simulation, organizing applications for abroad chances and continuing my curiosity for several aspects (ah, and I still read Conan, sci-fis, or even science theories while cooking!) but I am no longer in confusion of education.
Please wish me well in my path I am trying to build as I hope you do as well. J
(yes, I use the word build on purpose.)
Let me take you back to the time I was sitting the last year of primary school. I was this silent nerd you wouldn't want to talk to even if it's an emergency. I went to school, took notes in the class, submitted the assignments in time, participated less in the group project, and rather ended up reading books which should've been read for young adults (relax, it is sci-fi books, not those romantic chick-lits) than spent time eating in the canteen. Teachers called me up to join science fairs, math olympiads, and also bunches of drawing and writing competitions. And if you check my report book you would be curious about the way a kid could study to achieve scores that were stably well in top 1% in the class. Well, I can safely say I only followed the rules and the system that was applied. Later to graduation and national exam result day, it was no shocking that I achieve 'good enough' score to apply in the best accredited junior high school in the province which I got in then.
But what changed then? Well, I still was the not-so-noisy barks in school nor a fan of going to canteen over the chance of finishing a book, but I barely followed the system of studying in class and reviewing what I had before at home anymore. I lost it. In the contrast of what should’ve happened to me, I was a girl who got scores higher than average while all I did other than school was only reading books which were not so supporting my academic progress or browsing things on my phone. Then they called me kind-of-prodigy, I could've been the smartest one, the genius, the magical kid while all I ended up was a student with piles of Conan files and sci-fis and cooking recipes. But I understood what they meant that time, well, at least I think I did. They wanted me to work things harder than I did so I could achieve better but there was something that bothered me so much.
I was curious and it grew so rapid and enormous. And answering the probability that might pop out in your mind by now, no I was not curious about bad things that could swap me to kind of 'bad' kid. It’s something out of common such as in the time of year when all my friends were curious how to count the flow of fluid in physics, I was curious how atom was initially found and how radioactive was developed later on. Or when all of them were memorizing parts of the nerve system, I was reading too far about Euclid's early life. Or even in the middle of semester break when all of them would enjoy the holiday, I ended up trying to understand Tesla's inventions.
It started by that, and then planting a belief that I've learned more about life and science (which I love sincerely) more than I did in formal education which then made me hating the way system worked and how education in Indonesia affected too much on how one should think and be curious. That belief shaped and destroyed me at the same time, by cracking my scheme of study which lead to the fall of my scores but handing me out something so potential to change my whole mind. I learned a value of how studying should take place, that all my years of studying before was spent following the system and only that system of grasping the lecture I have got in class and never got out of the tracks. I knew I was wrong but the big problem is, where did I go wrong?
Years go by with that mindset and broken hope of me being the magical kid, I was believed to have minimum score to pass in national exam if I did not work harder than I was. That was one and a half month before the real test took place and I heard that no good enough school would want to accept my minimum score from the last simulation test, so tried proving them wrong. Fast forward, I got almost perfect score which got me accepted in the greatest school regionally, even known nationally as a recognized great high school. And to spoil, my average score in the simulation was 31,25 and I got accepted with 38,00 which was surely insane! But that was not the real deal. I still have a mindset of studying in formal education and following Indonesian education system was not good and I decided to keep on being never-really-study but I was trying to be so active in so many things. At least, I trained myself for the soft skills I would need, I thought that time. But in simple note, you can assume that I hated schools and how education system worked that I rejected almost all of the formal-related-things I was not agree based on words from Einstein and Ignacio Estrada.
Let us just say there was a time I loathed anything related to formal educations. I debated with friends in debate club about that but then continued to argue with ones outside that circle, I wrote something on the internet based on my own research of education, I refused to submit tasks I didn’t think should be given, and else. Basically, I was opposing them all who did not walk the same road as I did. I was no longer the prodigy they thought I was.
Taking you back to my time when I was reading about PISA and researching other countries' various ways to teach their students, Google page six (I still remember everything though), the last link was this: Belajar Untuk Nilai atau Untuk.. and I decided to clicked that in case there was good information provided. I read the whole article and thinking,"This is a really great article," which kind of lead me to read every article written in the blog. But I kept wondering what was Zenius? What was the whole thing I was reading? Why they sounded so right and held the same principle as I did?
You might guessed what I did next. I checked the main page, clicking every link that would give me proper understanding and then I saw the video. It was...it was nothing that I thought it would be. It was everything that I thought proper to fulfill my need of understanding materials at school but in the same time feeding the hunger of my curiosity. And the blog; it was perfect source of reading things I thought I would only find in international websites or foreign ones. And then I watched about Zenius Learning which completely fitted the puzzle. After several times watching the videos and visiting the blog, I made up my mind to purchase subscription. I thought it would have complicated procedure but again, I was wrong. The service was unbelievably fast and easy as I only clicked several links and waited and the service arrived in my e-mail (I used zenius.net) - yaaay! The only things I found less in their service is that it easily signs out or the fact that one cannot directly ask something to the tutors. But overall, Zenius promises amazing service of education other than formals.
Zenius has changed my view of education, of how one should not stop learning, of how one should be learning the right way that is best rather than just memorizing and never understanding the concept of which one is learning. As the days went, my scores were getting stable uprising and I found myself not hating the schools. I think I understand why I hated school back then, or I never liked the idea of studying. It was not the school nor it was not the teacher. It was me not grasping the definition of education itself. These years before, all I knew about studying was about getting the lectures stuck in your mind so you would do well in tests but Zenius helped my research of the answer.
If you are struggling to decide whether or not it’s going to be worth it for you to join Zenius, and if you think it works for me because you think I am a special case, you are totally wrong. Zenius helps a lot, in every way you need, no matter who you are and where you are from. All you need is a willing (and actually internet to be realistic) and things will go well soon and please do not assume you are different than me that you will achieve differently. So, just open your mind and be optimistic for yourself.J
Education is not a formal process of studying, education is an enlightening experience of understanding complex thing around you at your will and it can be done in so many ways possible even in the way you never thought was one. I am no longer paying attention for words like prodigy, genius, and magical. What I believe now, is that if I am passionate about particular thing, as long as it’s a good thing, I will chase down the road no matter what it takes. It’s no longer, or even I can say that it’s never just about me, it’s about the world and what it holds for us to come. Education is a way to change mind and with an enlightened mind itself, one can change the world.
By now, I do not know what the future holds, but I decide to make science and environment as a target in the long run. I aspire of building proper life not only in the city but also in rural areas which is why I will pursue Architecture or Planning as my interest grows in both and widely in environmental science, design, and sociology (Zenius also helped me about this here and here). I am now studying for national exam which is approaching soon, starting to prepare for SBMPTN, revising for IELTS which I got 7.5 for the latest simulation, organizing applications for abroad chances and continuing my curiosity for several aspects (ah, and I still read Conan, sci-fis, or even science theories while cooking!) but I am no longer in confusion of education.
Please wish me well in my path I am trying to build as I hope you do as well. J
(yes, I use the word build on purpose.)