While education is important in everyone’s life, one must weigh the benefits and pitfalls of the same rather prudently. In western world and developing countries as of lately, private education school system has become very lucrative business due to a strong demand for it caused by people’s innate need to belong and learned need to keep up with the Joneses.
First time parents start early to save up for their kids private education and more often than not dream of Ivy League school or at least the best school the money can buy. The irony in this is that many countries worldwide have exceptional public school system, yet people are saving for private education. Why?! Because their friends, neighbors and colleagues at work are doing it – it’s what almost everyone is doing.
But really, what’s not to love about Ivy League schools that offer great value for money and return on investment (ROI)? Ivy League educations ROI includes benefits such as personal and professional connections, employability, highly paid jobs etc. It also almost always guarantees high-profile 60-70 hours per week jobs which practically enslave people and leave them no time for anything else.
Think about it for a second – isn’t it totally preposterous that people pay well north of $500K for their kids education only to enslave them for life? No matter what paycheck they end up getting the reality of the matter is their lives are not theirs, the money they earn is most likely going to be spent by others and worst of all, life will fly by in no time with them not having lived at all. So, is there an alternative and what is it?
Alternative is freedom. Instead of teaching young children to blindly follow the sinister system we’re all subjected to, awaken in them curiosity and passion for discovery – teach your children to question everything, you, system, religion, science and everything that came before them, let them figure out for themselves what to believe in and what path to walk on. You need only to encourage them and give them unyielding support in doing so.
Provoke their young minds to think BIG about themselves, life and everything that surrounds them; let them fly the farthest distance and dream BIG, for truly there are no limits to what can be achieved. Most of all, don’t ever tell them what they should become once they grown up, let alone what school to go to, least of all the Ivy League school. Let them figure out for themselves.
The purpose of life is not to follow the crowd and do what everyone else is doing or striving for, the purpose of life is to discover oneself innate talents and abilities, hone them throughout life and use to serve humanity and by doing so make the world a better place. Working on Wall-Street 60-70 hours weeks as overpaid investment banker is most certainly not making the world a better place nor is it helping the very banker lead a happy and fulfilled life.
So next time you think about sending your kids off to Ivy League school consider all the consequences that come with it knowing full well that life is lived only once and there are no repeats. Let your kids make the most of themselves and live a truly happy and prosperous lives.
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