MyTwoCents

Are education standards where they should be in the 21st century?

Absolutely not, I’m just going to touch of the surface of my views because this is a very general question.   I think education in this country has become like so many other things; a great concept that is taken too far.

Higher education in this country used to be a privledge and an amazing accomplishment…now it is simply another step in becoming a contributing member of society.  This is ridiculous. I don’t think that college is right for everyone and I don’t think it should be as important as it has become for many jobs.  Not everyone should be able to get into college and college should be a challenging four years at the end of which, a degree is EARNED and not paid for.

Additionally, I think we are asking way too much of students in younger grades.  It is no surprise to me that so many students are falling behind and being classified in schools.  I am a recent college graduate, and and I returned to a second grade classroom a few months ago only do find the class doing triple and quadrouple digit multiplication problems .  I was still working on  memorizing my times tables in fifth grade with the rest of peers.

We need to stop having unrealistic expectations for students, and in higher education, we need to stop caring about getting a check and start caring about students earning their degrees.  We have so many students passing from year to year and still, so many uneducated people.  Something is wrong here!

Is there a god or some spiritual thing out there?

Who knows?  I think the answer to this depends on what god is defined as.  To me, God exists, not as a person in the sky granting you eternal life in heaven or hell, not as an onmiscent being that can answer your prayers but as a part of every person.  I believe that together we create God.  God is a part of every being that makes up humans’ morals and conscience, as well as innate goodness and truth that many people demonstrate throughout their lives regardless of where they live around the world or what religion they practice.  It is obvious that these morals and truths can be different and displayed in different ways across cultures but they exist, and that is the important fact.

So then arises the question of an afterlife…is there one?  I’d like to think so.  A part of me feels this is only the first step and that there is a whole other side to life we do not see until we die.  Anyone who has ever seen or experienced a ghost can tell you that there is something else out there we cannot see.  What that something is, I don’t know, but I have faith that it exists.

This may be one of the most difficult questions I have ever been posed…but why not start out with a challenging one.

How do you find true happiness. Does it even exist? 

True happiness does exist…but not in other people or things.  Happiness is something that comes from within.  The key to happiness lies in your perception, so in fact, the way to find true happiness is to control your perception of life.  Might sound a little confusing, but it’s something I pride myself on being able to do, so let me explain a little bit more.

I wrote my college capping paper on Quantum theory and William James (the first American Psychologist).  Here’s some information I learned during my research:

William James created a concept that he called the DIE model or Data, Interpretation, Emotional Response model.  I believe that this concept clearly describes my view on the key to achieving happiness.

1.Data: The input that is given to the person…this input can be in any form: seeing, talking, smelling, etc.

2.Interpretation: This is the important step.  The data just collected means nothing to you until you interpret it.  This means you need to become aware of yourself and control your interpretations.

3.Emotional Response: In this case, happiness is desired.

So how does one control their interpretations and ensure happiness?  Most importantly, use introspection to determine how you normally interpret data.  For example, lets say your mother has to borrow your car for the day to go to work so you can’t go run my errands.  You get angry.  Obviously your interpretation in this example was negative, perhaps something along the lines of “what an inconvenience, now I have to wait until tomorrow to go out”.  By becoming aware of your negative interpretation, you are now on the path to fixing it.  The way to change your anger to happiness, or at least, a content frame of mind is to instead say to yourself”Now my mom can go to work, and I can clean the house like I’ve been meaning to for a while”.

Seems utterly simple in one situation, but, when you change your interpretation of many situations that occur daily in your life you will notice that you are happier.  Additionally, you will have to think less and less about changing your interpretations as time goes on because they become more positive through practice.  You will no longer be prone to negative responses, but rather positive one; and all of this achieved by simply changing your interpretations.

I hope this has helped…let me know if you need any clarifications.