Happiness in Education

Happiness in Education

                  Is it possible to find Happiness in Education?  I define education as a way to get the knowledge we need to succeed in life. During the past 14 years of my life I have been attending school. It all began from elementary to Jr high school to High school and now college. It has been a very difficult journey. Along the way there have been moments full of frustration and other moments of joy. Based on my experience I think Happiness can be found in education!

In the article Our Best Chance for Happiness Is Education by   Mark Van Doren, He explains two methods that explain how students are motivated. One method is “The drowning model “and “The Love making model “. She says “The drowning model shows two things: that the desire to free ourselves of pain can be a stronger motivator and that, once freed, we can easily mistake our relief for happiness........The love making model however ,offers a different way of thinking about learning , One that can encompass both present and future benefit .”  I can connect more to     “The drowning model “. There are times where I feel so stressed with school work. It comes to a point where I can’t take it anymore so my desire not to feel stressed motivates me .She is correct when she says that the desire to be stress free can be confused with happiness . Is it happiness? I agree with Mark Van Doren we get confused.

In Ken Robinson’s speech, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” He talks about a girl. Her teachers thought that she had a learning disorder because she had to “move to think”. What the teacher didn’t know was she loved to dance and when she joined musical theater where she found people like her. She was pleased because she was doing something she liked which was dancing. I think that the clue to find happiness is exactly what this girl did. She danced and did what she enjoyed most. In school we are taught math, reading, writing science etc these subjects aren’t interesting to all students but we have to make it interesting in order to learn. What we can do to find happiness in education is follow this girls example and make our classes fun. For example reading is not always pleasant when you read something you don’t like; a good idea would be to find a book or article on a topic which you are interested on.

              As a student one thing I hate are tests .There is nothing more that I hates  more  than taking tests , but I do like to talk and make friends . A solution to this problem can be to form a study group. Although I hate tests in a study group I get the opportunity to make friend but also study for my test because it’s impossible not to have them. I also lose focus very fast when I don’t understand certain things. What I can do to fix this issue is leave the fear on the side and ask questions. This will be the only way I am going to understand better and be able to maintain focused.  My fear towards failures is something I have to fix step by step with a lot of effort while studying taking notes and trying my best at all times. If I manage to fix these 3 issues in my life I thing I will find happiness in my education.

        In conclusion I am positive Happiness can be found in education. The student has to  find what they like and Enjoy what they do .If we think of how our future would be if we got far in Education because  We will inspire ourselves .In the future I view myself as I doctor and and that’s my inspiration towards succeeding in education ,therefore I find happiness in my education!