I had a YM conversation with my former EIC two nights ago. The simple hello greeting ignited into a short discussion over homosexuality and how I considered it as a physical disease. At first, she was refusing to entertain my questions about the said topic and she explained that we were no longer in the student publication anymore to talk about serious things. But I still managed to force her to just get along with my midnight mental convulsion even for a few questions. After that, she just advised me to write a post about my views on homosexuality and on our detoriating sense of morality. But I refused coz it is just an ‘advise’ even if she was Ms. Celia. Also, I don’t have the urge to write about such stuff.
Homosexuality is not the topic of my post here. That conversation with that TAC alumna brought something back to my thoughs about my student publication years. I remembered the years when I saw myself with a bunch of literary hooligans enjoying freedom inside the pub. We got no advisers from the admin before and as far as I can remember, TAC never had one ever since it was born some eons ago.
We enjoyed freedom for our pens. We had campus press freedom.We weren’t required to bow to a professor. We were college students already. We were not in a high school pub. We were old enough to know what has to be done. We were not kids anymore or ‘bata’ as some individual might think. I hate hearing that authoritative word ‘bata’ being referred to an adult - especially to college writers.
As far I know, I have only three local definitions of the word ‘bata’. First, it is used to refer to a small kid from age 1 to 11. “Ang daming batang naglalaro sa playground oh. Ung isa wala pang salawal.Ung isa iyakin.” Second, ‘bata’ is used to refer to someone’s girlfriend or boyfriend. We usually hear “Pre, bata mo ba yan? Me bata ka na ah.” Third, it is used to refer to a mobster’s goons or to a cop’s men to imply authority over them. I usually hear villains like Paquito Diaz saying “Maghanda ka na, paparating na ang mga bata ko!” What I am just trying to tell is that college students are grown ups already. If we will not treat them as grown ups, eh kelan pa? Perhaps they are even more matured compared to some professors because I strongly believe that ‘maturity’ is not entirely and solely dependent on the age of an individual. Rather, maturity should be based on experience and lessons gained. Age is just like an empty canister. Some old men got big canisters but are only half-filled. Some young individuals got their small canisters filled already up to its rim. Nice analogy. Ehem. Even if you are in your 60s, you can still be an immature because of your stupidity and stubbornness. You just got older, not wiser.
Our misconception about maturity can lead us away from our noble goals of guiding the young generation. If we will always watch what they are doing and forcing them to rigidly follow our commands, we are unconsiously treating them like prisoners. If we also authoritatively enforce to them our principles, beliefs, judgements, and morals and we asked them to kneel over it, then what kind of education or guidance are we giving to these college students? We are not educating them. We are hypnotizing them. We are training them to be dependent of us. We are training them to be dependent of our ‘light’ and not to make their own lights.
We are also turning them into a tasty but lifeless stuffed chicken with no self identity. This misconception of misled education is the plague that has been swallowing our education system. There is no more liberty and academic freedom in campuses for students to grow and learn in their own ways. If we say that they have to be guided, we must not forget that there is a very thin line that separates guidance and imposition. Imposition is the death of education.
That’s why most college students after they have left their universities to embrace the f_ck me-f_ck you-f_ck him-f_ck her-f_ck youself-f_ck everyone-outside world, they are as flat as their diplomas. Most colleges and universities can only produce ‘learned’ graduates and not ‘educated’ ones. And based on what I have observed in my professional life, these fresh graduates who have successfully entered the workforce are still under the effect of ‘college hypnosis’. Of course, they were trained to be competent to their chosen professions but as individuals or as human beings – they lack the necessary traits and virtues that will protect them from the pangs and claws of the real world. Trigonomentry cannot defend your right as a Filipino. Your scientific calculator cannot help you solve the complexities of your co-employees’s animalistic behaviors nor your 1s as an academician can be used to spear through the dilemmas of our motherland.
Education and compentence should not be based solely on academic grades. That’s why I am really disgusted about the Admin’s No-Failing-Grade policy being imposed to all students who want to serve their fellow Adamsonians thru entering the student government. If someone got a failed mark in his Calculus, it should not hinder him of his ambition to serve and to be a leader. Having a failed mark doesn’t ‘ultimately’ mean that a certain student is irresponsible or lazy or an idiot. Goddamnit! I am really bewildered why it is more difficult to run as an AUSG president than to run as a president of this god-f_cked country. Can someone explain and give me the logical justification (if there’s any) of this stinking stupidity by OSA?
That policy is a clear and malignant violation of your student rights. Honestly, I know the arcane reasons why they came up with that filtering scheme. They want to be assured that those who will be qualified to run will only be from their cesspool of ‘learned’ students and not from the very few ‘educated’ ones.
I just hope that they have not yet fully imposed it to the student publication (or am I late already?). For me, it is right to use the academic performance of a campus writer as a factor for his qualification to stay in the pub. If he is getting too serious about his duty as a writer and he neglects his academics, it is the obligation of the editorial board to give necessary disciplinary actions to their staff – not necessarily to terminate them. That’s why being in the editorial board doesn’t only require writing and editing skills, one must also have the trait of a leader. But again, the No-Failing-Grade policy is a no-no for me. It is just like using a jungle bolo to ruthlessly slash the neck of someone who got a simple migraine. Anyway, why are we so concerned about academic grades? Ah, I almost forgot! It is mainly because of the dreaded campus hypnosis. Silly me. If this is the type of education that we are getting and paying for, I can say that we are going nowhere. How can we say that we are educated?
We have politicians who got their ‘education’ from prestiguous universities, some even went to Harvard and Yale. We are blessed and cursed with ‘educated’ public officials. And yet, after the long span of decades tainted with rallies and anxieties, these breed of government mutts did nothing to alleviate our race from its pigsty of miseries. These big time crooks are definitely the product of our benevolent education system.
But they are the nadir of our education system’s failure. For your level, I can surely expect a newly-hired graduate to easily solve a math problem or enumerate the countries of the world with its capitals but I am doubtful if he can protect his rights as a person or defend himself when he is forced to. It is because of the fact that our rotten ‘education’ system is based on ‘yes sir-yes mam’ method of teaching. We were absolutely trained to follow instructions and commands with a high level of competence. We were trained to be Class A corporate slaves. We were trained to serve multinational companies and not our society and fellow men.
Sad to say, after your graduation, you will be suddenly spanked in the face with the realization that you are not yet ready and the things that you have learned from our learning institutions are just SUPERFICIAL. Apparent but unreal. Shiny giftwraps, empty carton boxes.
We know how to walk but we don’t know how to stand.
(Imagine I used a straight face emoticon instead of a period to end this post.)
About the author:
stiban_graffiti has blogged 9
posts
Write a comment