FRIDAY, 2 JULY 2021
Sixteen is not too young to understand what you are doing with the whole school story. In fact, even if you are fourteen or fifteen, you can do yourself a favour to develop some understanding of it – or ask adults in your life to explain it to you.
So, what do you do between the ages of seven and, let’s say, sixteen? You learn to read and write. You learn to do math, and you read enough history and geography to be able to locate yourself in the world. You may learn one or two other languages; you learn about human and animal biology, and you learn a little science. If you’re in a technical school, you’ll learn more practical topics … but that’s my next point. After sixteen, up to and including your early twenties, you learn things that will enable you to earn an income, and to contribute to the society, or at least to the community, in which you live.
Does the sixteen-year-old understand this? Maybe; maybe not. But the child in grade ten (or nine, or eleven) who questions why they have to study Biology or Science or Mathematics if they are not going to pursue careers where this knowledge will be of value deserves a proper answer.
Here’s my advice. You need to be able to write properly. Maybe you learn it in English class. If not, take extra courses on Udemy, or on another platform. You need to know more about the world, and about history. YouTube is packed with short and long documentary videos that will teach you what you need to know. Also watch travel programs, or videos about different countries to learn more about the world. Science, and Biology? YouTube. And then, seeing that just about anything between 16 and 23 is about preparing to make money and contributing to society, watch lectures, interviews, and book summaries on how people make money, how they manage money, and how you can improve your relationship with money. Boring for your average sixteen-year-old, you may say? More boring than a Biology class, or even for some students, a History class?
Fact of the matter is, too many people wake up too late. Too many also take too long to empower themselves to construct a good life. A life where they have a good idea of what they are doing, for whom, and why.
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