Category: Unit 1 (Page 11 of 20)

I Belong to a conservative family. I have a huge family and everyone obeys my father a lot. To him, education is extremely important, he himself has struggled a lot to complete his education. I have grown up seeing my Dad telling my cousins to study hard and become a better person. I have seen him struggled for his family and his kids. He is my role model, I do things that make him happy. I never cared much about education before because I assumed it absolutely was pointless if we can’t remember anything while growing up. I also thought education doesn’t teach us anything which we can apply in real life. However, since education is important to my father I began to care about it just for my father.

I am from Bangladesh and the education system there is very despicable. In spite of that 11 years of educational life in Bangladesh where the students are expected to memorize the textbook and copyright the exact thing on the exam and if not done properly face punishment, and this minimizes the growth of the students’ own knowledge and ideas. With this strict education system in Bangladesh where I did not have the freedom to express my ideas on the subjects. Recalling a memory once I didn’t complete my Social Study homework when my teacher called me to show my homework I couldn’t, she walked to my seat and said “You know the punishment come’ on show me your hand” I hid my hand on the back but she refuses to see my fear instead she pulled my hand and hit me with a steel ruler, which left an unforgettable mark on my hand. Additionally, I use to have a tutor coming to my house on weekdays to help me with my classwork and each subject. Furthermore, when I was going to take the final exam for 5th grade my tutor began to stay for extra hours making sure I understand the materials, and if not she would also hit me. My dad cut off the Tv line so there would be nothing to distract me from studying. After the struggle I have passed the 5th grade with an A+, seeing the happy face of my dad that day I felt satisfied but I was mentally devastated. To the people of Bangladesh, they care more about passing than their children’s psychological state. The majority of suicidal cases are from educational pressure in Bangladesh. Nonetheless, I was unable to attend any family gathering or weddings due to my school works, exams, and endless homework. The word “fun” never existed in the Bangladesh education system. All those series of events has pushed me toward hating education more and more. There are only two options whether you study or if you are a girl you have to stay home learn how to cook and clean. I had no option but to continue to tolerate the torture until my dad decided to move to the USA.

At the age of 14, I move to the USA. I was told that the United States is the “land of opportunities”, my dad bought us here for our better education and us to become a better person in the future. But, the only thought I was having is “will my preference about education change?”. Soon after I was enrolled in school, on my first day, my hands were shaking as I was walking into the school. Although I was nervous, I was optimistic that something better waiting for me. As I began my new journey toward a whole new education system. In the beginning, I couldn’t speak English nor I understood my teachers and classmates. I was afraid that they would get mad at me but, they were being very patient with me. The teachers helped me with learning English as well as my classmates. They would improve me if I had said or did something wrong. 2 The gesture I was receiving from them began to change my preference for education. I was encouraged to learn myself without any pressure from anyone. The freedom of expressing my own thought and ideas in writings and other materials was very nice but the challenges were yet to come. Each time I was told to write something in my own word I was struggling to do so because many years of studying in Bangladesh dust set on my mind, I didn’t know where to begin or end. With the number of challenges I completed middle school, then I began High School. Somewhat I was being able to complete each grade by myself with no help from outside. Yet, this wasn’t the end of my struggle, then I was cast down with the exam called the SAT, I did not hear of this test until sophomore year of high school where I got to know that without this exam I won’t be able to attend good colleges that could provide me with a better future and instantly I felt more stressed than before. There were several questions running in my head such as: What if I do not get a good score? How will others and my family view me if I don’t do good on this exam? Since English is my second language I was allowed to receive extra time for all the regents but I was denied having extra time for the SAT which impacted me to sit at the exam with anxiety and a shaky hand of not completing the exam on time. Due to the limited time I was forced to leave more than 25 questions on each section of the SAT blank and randomly answered. This made me feel exactly the same way that I felt while I was studying in Bangladesh, except this time my teacher told me “It is just a test it doesn’t measure my intelligence” this gave me the hope of doing better and pushing forward. Despite all the challenges I have graduated from high school. College is my new journey now there is much more to come within.

Ultimately, I believe that Education is supposed to be fun and not forced upon anyone. Education is for oneself not for others, throughout this journey I have acquired to like education because it has so much to give us. My educational adversity grew me into a completely different person, which boosted my confidence and willpower. I didn’t let my past experiences hold me back from improving myself. I proved myself to be a strong person who can develop herself despite the obstacles I faced in the past. This is not the end I will continuously work toward my future and self-improvement. Now, I am not continuing my education for my Dad but for myself, to become an independent woman and an interior designer in the future.