Connecting the Dots in Reverse

I rushed out of Bedok Camp without looking back. After two years of military service, I was done with the place. Thankfully I wouldn’t be going back for a while because four days later, I would be boarding my flight to England, where I was going to be free.

I spent 3 years living in Brighton & Hove, an idyllic seaside city 1-hour south of London. Known for the Royal Pavilion, its annual Gay Pride parade and ruffians masquerading as seagulls. As a Singaporean being part of a student body in such a liberal atmosphere, was an unbelievable experience.

Brighton Pride Parade on August 5, 2017 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Tabatha Fireman/Getty Images)

Studying abroad is touted as prestigious. In my parent’s generation, it was something that was rare but a way to ensure success for the future. Being there, it was hard to disagree. The time spent there was awesome and I gained independence living abroad. After the obligatory “fresher’s week” extravaganza, the class began and I got a taste of the education provided.

Classes were mostly spent on discussions with other students, participation was encouraged. This was different from when I was taught to sit and listen. After the first class, the homework given was to read paragraphs from a paper and to have a discussion in the next class. Sweet! All I had to do was read without memorising the paper, which was a constant in Singapore schools. I looked up which assignments were going to be graded for school and saw on the course site that the first year won’t be graded. Party time! The university encouraged self-research, citing the value of empowering self-teaching. It all seemed like fancy terms for learning how to Google stuff. I was all for it.

Once the fairy dust settled, questions began to squawk at the back of my head (or was the seagull digging in the trash again?) What was special here? Was this really what my parents paid for? What can I get from this that I couldn’t learn from the Internet?

Tuition F(r)ee is missing an “r”.

My parents paid a lofty sum for me to be an “international” student that provided “diversity” to the campus.

Added to tuition was the living costs which amounted to at least £1,000 a month. Being in England and enjoying city life wasn’t cheap. In addition, I couldn’t get rid of the fact that an entire degree in Singapore was almost 3x cheaper:

https://blog.moneysmart.sg/education/singapore-university-education-cost/#fees

Education was the main reason I was there, but I was finding it hard to justify the value of it, not in the way I once saw.

Being educated in Singapore, we were often drilled to learn, which amounted to practising test-taking and memorisation skills. Schools loved to tell us the value of being book smart just as they loved text-book bashing it into our heads. I learnt to see the value for what it wasn’t, through how heavy my school bag was or the tedious work. This didn’t amount to quality work and made me see homework as an intellectual chore.

Modern Needs of the World.

I went into university in the UK thinking I would be enlightened and I went all-in. I became president of the Singapore, Malaysian and Bruneian society in school for 2 years, attended university balls and conferences in an effort to boost my network and resume. Upon graduation, I did well enough to be offered a scholarship to pursue a Masters Degree with the university. I declined. Higher education was not as life-changing as I thought it would be. As I began my job search, I was optimistic about my prospects. Overseas education was touted as a key to success. I felt I had done enough and deserved to be hired.

But out of every 10 resumes I sent, I would have been lucky to get 1 reply. Companies weren’t interested in the degree I earnt.

It was a tough pill to swallow but is indicative of the current business climate where mavericks and entrepreneurs that fell out of college run the most profitable companies. Organisations are on the lookout for people who can handle a multitude of tasks related to those outside their field of study. Any job description will list plenty of things never taught in school or expect a multidisciplinary experience. Entry-level jobs often look for candidates with 2 years of experience.

There is a lack of what schools can provide and what the real world is looking for. This left me stranded on the unemployed island with just seagulls for company.

Bring a Metal Detector to the Beach

There has been an ongoing debate between online and offline education. One is seen as the new age saviour of the human intellect while the other a relic of the bygone era. But lest we forget, what we deem as ‘traditional’ education now was once considered innovative. Even as companies and individuals have stepped up to educate the masses, the education system and schools are not going anywhere.

There is no best way to get educated, it is how you see value from it that counts.

In secondary school, I surprised myself by doing well enough to pursue a diploma in Mass Communication, a course I wanted. I learnt media skills and met people that gave me a larger world view.
From there I entered the army, which taught me leadership and discipline.
Which led to pursuing a degree abroad. Where I learnt the true value of home.
In Korea, I learnt a new language and connected with a new culture.
Yet the first time I felt real value from education was from a 5-week online course.

In hindsight, when going through the experiences above, I didn’t have the maturity to understand their value. I was measuring the tangible ROIs and not the richness of the experiences and potential compounding value from it.

The reason I felt real value from the online course was that it helped me piece together my fragmented relationship with education. It shifted the focus to the quality of learning rather than quantity; and prized uniqueness over conformity. Like bringing a metal detector to the beach, it helped me uncover the shiny dimes that were beneath the sand.

“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” - Steve Jobs.

The best value to be found in education are the little ones. The connection, experiences and realisations are metrics that wouldn’t score well in traditional educations but it has opened doors to cultures and different perspectives.

Hey, teachers, leave them kids alone.

Modern and traditional education is made up to be opposing forces, but in the current climate, we have seen how complementary they can be. Online resources have developed the writing and research skills I should have perfected in ‘traditional’ education. While the non-academic experiences from a university that I once thought to be irrelevant helped me forge deeper connections in an online course.

Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall (Pt. 2)

Both modern and traditional education has suffered from the expectations that have been placed upon them. What if the teachers did leave the kids alone? In many ways, it was up to me to determine how to value my own student experience.