Book Club Writing Assignment 1
I recently joined the Duke International Book Club, and we'll be reading through and discussing "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach over the next few weeks. There are also writing assignments for this book, so I felt that I might as well share what I write here, too.
This is the writing cue for the first chapter :
For chapter 1, perhaps you have had some passion, in art, music, some dream, etc. that you strove for and were told to instead 'fit in'. What was that like for you? Write a paragraph or two about your experience.
In Malaysia, there are three well-regarded career paths that 'highly educated' or 'intelligent' people follow : Medicine, Law and Engineering. Of course, this is an oversimplification, but that's the general sentiment that most parents echo, especially those with children who do well academically. I did well in school, but was never interested in those aforementioned career paths. All I ever wanted to do was to become a school teacher because my interests and passion leaned towards that direction. Having come from a family of teachers, I knew from a very young age that I enjoyed teaching and had a flair for it. Everyone, however, told me that becoming a teacher would be a waste of my intellectual ability. Why not read law? An aunt offered to sponsor my education in the United Kingdom if I would take it up. She even reasoned that if I wanted to teach, I could lecture with a degree in Law. Suffice it to say, I had no interest whatsoever in that field, so I turned down her well-meaning offer as politely as I could. However, in the months preceding the decision of choosing my college major, I still felt awfully conflicted - I knew where my passion lay, but I also did not want to make the mistake of dismissing the wisdom of my elders who might have more foresight than I did at that point. I can identify with Jonathan whose off and on attempts at convincing himself to 'fit in' only resulted in confusion and cognitive dissonance. It's really not a pleasant feeling. It's also a very lonely road to take when you strike out your own path and support from others is scarce.
Six years later, I am happy to say that I followed my heart and have (not yet) regretted becoming an elementary school teacher. However, the struggle still continues. Society values career achievements, money and status, and I have to live with knowing that I am a failure (somewhat) in the world's eyes, which sometimes bothers me, but not quite enough to make me buy that mentality and "fit in". And I hope I never will.
This is the writing cue for the first chapter :
For chapter 1, perhaps you have had some passion, in art, music, some dream, etc. that you strove for and were told to instead 'fit in'. What was that like for you? Write a paragraph or two about your experience.
In Malaysia, there are three well-regarded career paths that 'highly educated' or 'intelligent' people follow : Medicine, Law and Engineering. Of course, this is an oversimplification, but that's the general sentiment that most parents echo, especially those with children who do well academically. I did well in school, but was never interested in those aforementioned career paths. All I ever wanted to do was to become a school teacher because my interests and passion leaned towards that direction. Having come from a family of teachers, I knew from a very young age that I enjoyed teaching and had a flair for it. Everyone, however, told me that becoming a teacher would be a waste of my intellectual ability. Why not read law? An aunt offered to sponsor my education in the United Kingdom if I would take it up. She even reasoned that if I wanted to teach, I could lecture with a degree in Law. Suffice it to say, I had no interest whatsoever in that field, so I turned down her well-meaning offer as politely as I could. However, in the months preceding the decision of choosing my college major, I still felt awfully conflicted - I knew where my passion lay, but I also did not want to make the mistake of dismissing the wisdom of my elders who might have more foresight than I did at that point. I can identify with Jonathan whose off and on attempts at convincing himself to 'fit in' only resulted in confusion and cognitive dissonance. It's really not a pleasant feeling. It's also a very lonely road to take when you strike out your own path and support from others is scarce.
Six years later, I am happy to say that I followed my heart and have (not yet) regretted becoming an elementary school teacher. However, the struggle still continues. Society values career achievements, money and status, and I have to live with knowing that I am a failure (somewhat) in the world's eyes, which sometimes bothers me, but not quite enough to make me buy that mentality and "fit in". And I hope I never will.
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