Make me the master of education, and I will undertake to change the world is a

quote by Gottfried Willhelm Leibnitz to show the importance of education in attaining

freedom in this world. Therefore, this quote is very dear to me because it explains my life
principle which is where I pursue education itself which is to attain freedom to change and
shape the world to become a better place. Hence, due to my principle where I personally
believe that education is the road to attain freedom, I could relate to myself to the article
written both by Kie Ho and Pete Hamill with the title of We should Cherish our Childrens
Freedom to think and Winning isnt everything. I like both of this article because it shows
the true meaning of education where Kie hos article stresses on the importance in freedom of
education where you learn at an ones own pace and time while Pete Hamills article stresses
on the concept of achievements is not the main purpose in life.
In his article We should Cherish Our Childrens Freedom to think, Kie Ho states that
unlike his counterparts in Asia and Europe, my son had studied creative geography. When
he was only 6, he drew a map of the route that he traveled (paragraph 1). I like this
statement from Kie Hos because it shows that education is only useful when it can be applied
to our everyday life. Living in this era of globalization, students of my age are frequently
bombarded by the society with diverse questions related to our education. However, the
questions that were thrown towards us by the people around us consist of their expectation on
what we are supposed to learn. For instance, our nuclear family such as our parents would ask
us question like Have you memorize all the multiples of 12? or Are you able to write the
essay properly with minimal errors?. Consequently, rarely would the people around us
would ask us Why questions such as Why do you like geography my dear? or Why do
you think art is useful son?. Therefore, based on this questions in the above-mentioned
sentence, it could be concluded that the education system I went through is similar with Kie
Hos education system style where we were taught to only listen and to think about the
knowledge that is given to us during classes. For instance, in this education system, a student
in a mathematics class would ask his or her teacher on the reason behind learning
mathematics, the teacher would usually answer, Do not ask why, just do it. Hence, This style
of education system is highlighted in Kie Hos article where he stated that we were
models of dedication and obedience: we sat to listen, to answer only when asked, and to give
the only correct answer (paragraph 2). Subsequently, his explanation about the system of
education he undergone through is similar to the system of education I went through in my
own country where it resulted to many negative consequences towards the students based on
my personal experience. This is because this system of education could only cater to the

select few who are inherently born in this world with a genius and imaginative mind. These
kind of people are the kinds of people who can easily understand the information that were
taught to them as though they are the highest quality computer processor. Moreover, their
highly imaginative mind could easily visualize the information that were fed to them and
relate it to their past experience. However, this type of students are scarce and little in
quantity.
Consequently, when there is a genius type of students, they would also exist average
students where they need time to understand the knowledge or information that was given to
them. This kind of average students who has a hard time computing the information and
knowledge given to them by the teachers were deem slow and sometimes stupid by the
society around us. In the early stages of learning, they approach studies the same way as
genius students with the heart fill with eagerness and curiosity but later turn bored and
spiteful towards their studies because at the end of the day, the society will them as slow
learners. Moreover, their boredom in studies is enhanced and strengthened when they could
not ask questions or explore the information given at their own pace. For example, when I
was learning in Biology in form 4, we were asked to do an experiment regarding microscopy
where we need to observe cheek cells under a light microscope. Being a curious person I am,
I asked the teacher permission to look at the piece of my hair under a light microscope in
order to see the structure of my hair. To my utter surprise, my request was instantly shot down
by my teacher because he or she stated that my actions was deem as playing around.
Therefore, I started to get bored conducting lap experiment because I have to follow the lab
experiment required rigidly with no room for experimentation. Subsequently, it could be
concluded, that the system of education in our country forces it students to memorize and
instantly understand all the given facts with no room to explore information at our own pace
which led students like me to become bored towards education itself. This is because the final
purpose of education in our education system in my country which is similar to Kie Hos is
You need to learn only what I given to you if you want to become a good student.
Furthermore, this style of education system where students are required to instantly
understand and memorize the given information has created a society who judge or perceive
anothers person reputation based on the achievements they have under their belt. This is
lucidly depicted in Kie Hos article where Kie Ho stated that immigrants from many places
such as Belgrade and Prague is disappointed with the education system in America because
they perceive that their children did not achieve much in this kind of education style
(paragraph 1). For example, an individual from Germany was angry that his son was only

tested in simple mathematics questions in his first day of school (paragraph 1). Another
article that shows the obsession of society towards achievements is an article written by Pete
Hamill where he stated in his article Vince Lombardis notion of winning isnt everything but
the only thing was used frequently by many famous American males such as presidents and
lesser politicians (paragraph 1). In my personal opinion, both sentences that is extracted from
both articles are explaining the exact same thing which is the obsession of our country
towards achievements where this said achievements could be in the form or education or
sports. In my personal experience, I also suffered from the mentality of achieving straight As
in examination by the people around me who kept expounding statements such as Study hard
to get a good job to a point where I forgot the real reason I pursue education itself which is to
attain freedom. I was influenced by the people around me who kept on pestering me to
achieve more As and a higher score in exams that I began to become obsess with my grades.
Consequently, I would only learn and memorize information that could help me score higher
in my exams and would sometimes ask my teachers to give myself targeted questions that is
frequently ask in the exams. Nevertheless, if the information is additional information
unrelated towards my studies, I would instantly forget it and delete it from my mind because
it is irrelevant towards my studies rather than seeing additional information as a part of
education itself. Moreover, my obsession towards grades left instantly frustrated if I obtained
a grade B or lower because I deem myself stupid because I could not manage to obtain an
A rather than appreciating the knowledge I have inside myself to obtain the grade B itself.
Therefore, I managed to overcome this style of thinking when I entered college where I was
exposed to many people and read many articles such as Pete Hamils article Winning isnt
everything which taught me back that education is learning to gain freedom to change the
world and not as a medal to be used to gain reputation or material goods in this world.
In conclusion, both Pete Hamils and Kie Hos article in my opinion has the
same distinct content which is you have your own freedom to pursue your own education and
achievement in education or any other fields is not the main purpose of your life. Therefore, I
would like to restate my principle which is mentioned in the introduction where I firmly
believe that education is a learning process for an individual to have the power to change the
world to become a better place. However, the purpose of education would not be
accomplished if the society is stuck in their old ways where they believe that education is an
achievements use to obtain reputation and material goods in this world. This is because, with
this mind set, the individual will eventually become bored of education itself and would not

pursue learning as a life-long journey. Therefore, the students of our generation need to
change their mind and perception towards education.