race to nowhere

I saw this documentary film at the nearby high school auditorium. As you can tell from its title, it's the alarm bell from the children who are exposed the severe competition to get in the prestigious college.



One of the children said that her least favorite word was "and". Every time she describes herself by saying " I 'm a straight A student.", an interviewer or whoever it is probably all of us continues saying "And?". She has to say " Well, I participated in soccer team.." and then "And ?", " Well..I was in volunteer group" and then "And?"..and on and on.



They have to be smart, but that's not enough. They have to be popular and sporty and social and ..our demand is endless. They are tortured literally by our ultra high expectations and then trade off their valuable high school time to get in the college without preparing for college academically.



Same thing in Japan of course, but the big difference is that students are most of the time evaluated only by the entrance exam.





I use to think American way is fair and softer than Japanese one. If you are not good at memorizing things and happens to be a bad grade student, you still have chance to show off your different aspect to get in the college I mean your "right fit" college.





It must have been true and supposed to be true now. However in this modern society, am I the only one who feels "right fit" or "unique" sound like "loser"? I know, I know, saying such is a bad idea and in spite of this I always declare every each is divine being and should be unique and I LOVE the idea like that, I really do. Trust me, I'm not that bad...but then am i valuing my children by only they have? Am I satisfied with what they have? The answer is No. I force them to do extra work and expect good grade all the time (not the "Chinese mother" way, trust me again!). Am I torturing them? my babies? what a contradiction!!! Why do I have to force them to study hard? I bet I'm not teaching them the joy to learn I wish I do you know...


The film concluded that WE are the ones who are running on the running machine. Nobody is forcing me but can't help running, because the floor appears endlessly after every step I made to move me forward with knowing going to nowhere. The quitting means falling.

We really should take a break once in a while otherwise we might overheat and burn our future.