Paper #1 Happiness in My Education

When people think of education it is not always a pleasant thought. There is so much build up on the negative traits about school and not much positive traits about school. With such great build up even “12 year old children already [made] a clear distinction between work and play, a distinction that stays with most of us for the rest of our lives. It is very clear to children that their education is about schoolwork, homework, and hard work” (Sharhar 91). I am always worrying or stressing over a subject area that I am not strong in. In order to solve these problems and have a happier education, I participate in things that I enjoy and make sure I put in my best effort into the work that I do.

I am always over worrying and thinking about events that I have uncertainties over but has not happened yet, which is a spontaneous thing for me. Recently I took a math quiz and the result has not come out. On the day of the quiz I had double checked my work and handed in my quiz knowing that I did my best, the quiz ended but all I could think about was the problems that I had trouble on during the quiz. Even after I arrived home I was not able to ignore my thoughts. I tried redoing the problems with a calculator many times. When the result came out different than what I wrote on the quiz negative thoughts clouded my mind. Then I would redo another problem I had on the quiz. When the result also came out differently my mind is clouded with a rush of negative thoughts. Especially if it is a major exam poisonous thoughts would flooded my mind. There is always a solution to something and I do have a solution to my over worrying thoughts.       

By doing things that I enjoy I am able to stop myself from over thinking about stressful things and be a bite happier and less unhappy. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or if information is not getting processed within my mind knowing that I tried my hardest to focus but still overwhelmed I would stop what I am doing. With the over worrying situation about the quiz result I would do something productive to keep my mind elsewhere. Sometimes I would read a book; a good book takes my mind into the many adventures inside the story and away from my worries. This leaves me to forget all my worries and doubts about the quiz. Another situation such as when I am overwhelmed by my homework I would do something that I enjoy to relive my stress such as painting. Once I have started to paint I feel like I have fallen into the zone, “we enjoy both peak experience and peak performance: we experience pleasure and perform at our best. Athletes often refer to this experience as being in the zone” (Sharhar 86). Creating an atmosphere where I would worry less about my education helps bring me closer to the zone.

Currently a class I am taking is psychology, I am not sure if I am good at it or bad at it, but I do my best at trying to enjoy the subject. There is a lot of reading along with my homework from other classes, but as I take my time reading and taking notes everything becomes more interesting. Rushing quickly through the chapters will not allow me to gain any new knowledge. When I understand something that is a benefit for my education I am a bit more delighted than when I do not understand something. While I read carefully the contexts in the textbook is clear and I can comprehend what it is talking about. Also, when I feel like I am overwhelmed by all my homework I would do something that I enjoy to relive my stress such as cooking. I find the delicious aroma of food to be quite relaxing and assuring. By doing things I enjoy which help relieves my stress I think less about how education is such a burden and more of a happy experience.

Another way that makes me feel happier is when I am not good at certain things whether its school work or outside of school work; I would put all my effort into it. I would try to accomplish it even though my thoughts might be “I cannot do this, give up, it is too hard…” but that would not make me feel happy. After putting in my best effort into something I am not strong in, and I still have lingering doubts in some ways. It is fine, because not only did I try my hardest in accomplishing the task but also with the best of my ability. On the other hand, if I kept pushing myself I would start to stress and feel anxious. That would only result in unhappiness with my education and other things I am learning.

Overall, I believe that by participating in something I enjoy and trying my best brings much more happiness to my education than just worrying and stressing about it. Mostly when you are challenged or under challenged in a subject area you would start to dislike school even more. But with a subject you enjoy it is a way to get away from subjects that you’re stressing over and worrying about constantly. Also, by putting in the effort to at least try new things and just be proud of what you have accomplished would make anyone happier. What I want is “present gain, [and] future gain” in my education (Sharhar 87).

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