Zhang 1

Xingxuan Zhang
Mr. H
English 108
April 26, 2016
Making Life Meaningful: What the School Can Do
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change

the worldsaid by Nelson Mandela (brainyquote.com). No one will disagree

with the significance of education, but sometimes people may suspect

whether the abilities they need in daily life or the future can be learned in

school before changing the world. In school life, students have to take a lot

of academic courses, there is a large amount of homework to do, and a lot of

exams to prepare for. It is true that such traditional education methods can

build up logical thoughts and provide basic knowledge. However, the current

education system does not fully help students to find the meaning of life and

deal with real life problems. Students in school should spend more time on

thinking about the life rather than simply memorizing academic knowledge

and students can study much better by thinking the meaning of life. To help

people explore their lives meaningfully, the school should be opened to

everyone in society, provide less lectures and more practical courses, and

encourage students to do meditation every day.

In order to help people to find the meaning of life, some schools,

especially some famous universities, should allow everyone to enroll in

classes. The article "Does Adult Education Contribute to Securing Non-

precarious Employment? A Cross-national Comparison", written by some

professors, compares three countries (Spain, UK, and Russia) adult

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educations and concludes that the adult education has a clear beneficial

impact on the individuals career (Vilhena, Kosyakova, Jakonen & Mcmullin).

It would be good for people to get a promotion or at least remain in their

jobs, if schools, especially universities, can provide its education not only for

students but also for people who have already been in the working world. In

modern times, everything develops so quickly that people are required to

learn new skills to survive in the competition. Doctors need to know the

newest research achievement, then they can treat patients more efficiently.

Accountants also should learn how to use the newest accounting software

frequently in this fast developing world. If they cannot handle it, they will be

replaced by other accountants who master the newest software. School is an

ideal place to learn new skills and get to know new thoughts. Thus, if the

school can be opened to the whole society without any requirement like the

SAT test, it can not only help adults with their careers but also provide an

opportunity for students to know their future jobs when adults can bring their

experiences to school. By this way, young students can obtain some real

world information and integrate into the society better. Adults can achieve

happiness because of the constantly enterprising spirit.

Schools also can provide less lectures and more practical courses to

give meaning to peoples lives. Sammamish High School in Bellevue

designed a new teaching method, giving fewer lectures but letting students

practice more to apply knowledge to real-world problems, and confirm that

practicing more can only get them higher scores but also that connecting the

knowledge in the book with the real world problems can help students
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understand better (Re-imagining Career and College Readiness: STEM,

Rigor, and Equity in a Comprehensive High School). Students often doubt

the meaning of study because they do not know if what they learned in class

can be used in the future. They spend lots of time on taking courses in

school, doing homework, and testing. If schools do not use real world cases

to let students apply knowledge to it, students may think studying is just for

the score and knowledge is useless in their future lives. As well, employers

are willing to recruit students who have more experiences on the

professional field rather than just having a high GPA. Patients trust surgeons

who have done many operations successfully instead of an amateur hand.

More practice with real world problems is able to let students, especially

university students, know their majors completely and then, help them to

choose the right career that they want to devote their efforts to. By providing

less lectures but more practical courses, students will be interested in

studying and master the knowledge better, and love their jobs and lives in

the future.
Schools should encourage students to do meditation every day to help

them make life meaningful. According to The Art of Living, meditation

benefits not only peoples physical health but also mental health. For

example, meditation can improve the immune system, decrease stress, and

help with emotional stability (artofliving.org). In school, students are busy

with studying and testing. The courses make them very tired and the exams

cause them to be stressed. Anxious becomes a common word to describe

young students and the depression occurs in students lives more

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frequently. After graduating from school, without a method to deal with

anxiety and depression, students will bring them to the working world.

Meditation is a good way to relax and provide mental fitness because it

provides people a quiet time and space that is free of annoying and stressful

things. Through meditation, people can be less anxious, achieve their inner

peace, and have the wholesome mind. Once most people are not anxious

anymore and have positive energy, the society will be more friendly and

peaceful.
Reforming the current education system is a difficult task for the

society and has many problems that should be solved indeed. However,

schools should not keep the current education method all the time just

because of those difficulties: the benefits of the new methods are much more

important. The new strategies of the education do have a lot of advantages

and can help people to add meaning to their lives. Allowing everyone to

enroll in schools without any academic or age barriers is a method to let the

education be a guide to peoples lives and can help both newcomers, like

workers, and students with their career build up. Adding more practices

rather than only lectures can make courses more interesting,

understandable, and useful. The meditation can help students with their

mental health and stimulate them to find their meaning of life. All of these

suggestions can change the education system to be a whole life friend rather

than just stand for taking courses and testing.

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Work Cited
"Nelson Mandela Quote." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
Vilhena, D. Vono De, Y. Kosyakova, E. Kilpi-Jakonen, and P. Mcmullin. "Does

Adult Education Contribute to Securing Non-precarious Employment? A

Cross-national Comparison." Work, Employment & Society 30.1 (2015):

97-117. Web.
Sutton, Paul. "Re-imagining Career and College Readiness: STEM, Rigor, and

Equity in a Comprehensive High School." (n.d.): n. pag. 1 Mar. 2016.

Web. 16 Apr. 2016.

"Benefits of Meditation." The Art of Living Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr.

2016.