The joy of passing exams.
I just found out that I passed a particularly critical exam and let out a whoop that was heard throughout the trading floor. I was really tense about this one because my job depended on my success and the tension was palpable. I realised though that I wouldn't be as ecstatic if I had not spent a weekend in doubt and anxiety. The thrill of the event could only be stirred by the despondence preceding and the following words have taken a deeper import in my life.
The mind and spirit of man advance when he is tried by suffering. The more the ground is ploughed the better the seed will grow, the better the harvest will be. Just as the plough furrows the earth deeply, purifying it of weeds and thistles, so suffering and tribulation free man from the petty affairs of this worldly life until he arrives at a state of complete detachment. His attitude in this world will be that of divine happiness. Man is, so to speak, unripe: the heat of the fire of suffering will mature him. Look back to the times past and you will find that the greatest men have suffered most."
Zachary Latif 17:46
No Comment.
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Life's on a hold for the moment since I have some exams to do in order to be authorised to perform a controlled function by the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom. Nothing much to write about, except that staggered exams and the consequent wait reminds of the one thing about university I didn't particularly appreciate. Surely there must a better technique to measure the constant assimilation and understanding of a particular topic, rather than resort to the rota methods of examination. Perhaps it is my simple revulsion to spending a weekend studying, or at least trying to, but it's made me question the entire system of education as we know it.
I think the best way to learn is to have background reading before coming to class, with the lecturer only there to broaden or deepen existing knowledge. That way the students would have a greater understanding of the subject rather than cram and revise for it a couple of weeks prior to the exam itself. A friend of mine, who studied at the States, exclaimed how stultifying she found the British education system as opposed to the trans-Atlantic counterpart. Whereas in her American university class discussion was considered critical in stimulating and engaging the students she found it strange that in the United Kingdom, at one of the most respected business schools, lecturer were more like preachers with any sound omitting from the class considered a mere annoyance. Whereas in the States the professors were thrilled and enrapt by their subject matters, the British lecturers were far more detached and considered it an onerous duty. She told me of an Harvard lecturer on "group-working" who delegated his task to the class and forced them to organise and plan the lectures as well as the course syllabus. At the end the students realised that their cooperation and their conflict over this ensuing issue made them understand more about the lectures than they ever could otherwise. America's universities are of such a calibre that there is no doubt that America's hegemony in no small way stems from the quality of her academic system, where capital incentives and innovative techniques prepare students to be productive citizens. Americans are trained to be aggressive, dynamic and socially aware from college level whereas European students are inculculated with abstract knowledge, submissiveness and recitence in their education institutes. I don't see how anyone in their right minds could see an Atlantic conflict as a Clash of the Titans, for that would imply at least some sort of parity where none exists.
Zachary Latif 18:51 |
