The Happy Student by Daniel Wong

Author:Daniel Wong
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-07T00:00:00+00:00

My friend wasn't being mean-spirited or accusatory. She was simply describing her observations. But that conversation made me feel extremely uncomfortable. All of my efforts had been aimed at getting people to think highly of me—and now I realized they did. They thought my life was amazing, but I found it unfulfilling because I felt worn-out from all the meaningless striving.

My intense life continued, and I eventually graduated as the salutatorian of Victoria Junior College. This title was based on the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Examination (GCE A-Level Exam), which Singaporean students take at the end of high school. Like the O-Level Exam, the A-Level Exam is a national exam. It's kind of like the SAT, except that you only have one chance to take it and it covers two years of material.

My outstanding academic results, along with the rest of my résumé, made me a good candidate for a scholarship. After learning about the numerous scholarship programs out there, I chose to apply for five of them.

I had a practical attitude in choosing which programs to apply for. I decided that my best subjects were math and physics. What job is suitable for people who are good at math and physics? Engineering, I concluded. Without further consideration of what was important to me in a career, I started applying for scholarships that would allow me to do some form of engineering.

I'd grown so accustomed to performing well in the things I tried my hand at that I didn't want to risk doing something I wasn't naturally good at. I didn't even want to risk exploring what I was passionate about, because that might lead me down a path where I'd be forced outside of my comfort zone.

All in all, I took a very pragmatic approach toward scholarships and career. But was it the best approach? In hindsight, definitely not.

In What Should I Do With My Life? , Po Bronson advises readers not to let their heart be their brain's soldier. It's easy to make the decision that seems practical, wise, or beneficial. In many instances, your brain has decided so resolutely that this is the best course of action that it drags your heart along for the ride, regardless of what your heart is saying. That's what Bronson meant when he observed that we often let our heart serve as our brain's soldier. But the ride doesn't often turn out well when we let this happen. As a friend of mine once said to me, “You've got to be led by your heart but guided by your head.”

Your head asks “What's in it for me?” while your heart asks “Is this who I really am?” The first, more self-seeking approach usually results in comfort but not fulfillment, while the second, more introspective approach usually results in fulfillment but not necessarily comfort. Most of us would agree that, despite the allure of the comfortable life, we're really seeking fulfilled lives.

But even after graduating from high school, I hadn't realized this.

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