Student? Um...kinda... Learner? Absolutely.

So, seeing as I apparently decided that Korean, Mandarin, and Japanese weren't enough, I have added Thai to the languages I am learning.

It's bad.

Really bad.

And I love it~


Also filling out the application for the TaLK program. It would mean a gap of one to two years in my university studies, (unless I manage to attend a uni there as an international student) but I'm alright with that.

On a side note, I never really gave much credence to the 'school doesn't quantify you as a person' thing. I was always the one with the good grades, did my homework faithfully, studied and all that.

However, now, in university, I can understand from where that stems.

In my university classes so far, I have been poked fun at by one of my professors for my political beliefs, realized that, while the class is called 'Literary Interpretation', it should read 'The Professor's Interpretation of the Literature', told that I would understand the world more thoroughly if I just set aside my own curiosity, taken to task for thinking creatively, and reminded that my own mind and thoughts aren't worth anything in the eyes of my professors.

Now, had this been just one or two professors, I could handle it. Not an issue. However, it's been multiple professors spanning a decade of schooling and 5 different institutes of higher learning.

I've been told that not doing well in university would prevent me from getting decent jobs.
That it shows that I'm not a 'team player'.
That I can't be more than a blip on the radar with average or, heavens forbid, below-average grades.
That my life will be dictated by numbers given to me on an arbitrary scale of grading based on whether I showed up to class, answered questions, memorized facts and spit them back out.
That these professors hold my entire future in their hands.

I'm not okay with that thought process.

I will admit, I'm not the greatest student. I can do deadlines like no one's business, but I learn in a way that doesn't gel with the classroom curriculum of university now. I prefer to study it myself, to go through the process to get an answer in a way that makes me understand. I don't like classrooms. People learn at different rates, and listening to the same question being asked in different formats when the answer was in the reading for that day just makes me want to stay home, study there, and show up for the test. Which I have done. And passed the class with flying colors. Unfortunately, despite the fact that I am paying to attend school, professors and universities have decided that attendance somehow reflects on your skill as a student.

I am sorry. I have met people who go to classes religiously and still fail. I have met people, of whom I am one, who can only show up for the test and pass without issue. It isn't whether you are there or not that dictates your ability to learn. It is how well the information is processed. I don't need to sit in a classroom three days a week for two hours to listen to the handful of people who didn't read the assigned reading asking very stupid questions. To be honest, I consider that a waste of time that I could be using on something more productive.

I am, however, an intense, driven, curious learner.

I am more than willing to devote hours to learning about something I've never heard of previous to it being mentioned in conversation or on a website.
I love to find out new things.
I believe that you can learn more about life living it that you can reading about it.
I am more than capable of testing on whatever it is that you so desire to test me on, and if I don't know it, you can bet your lunch money I'll be looking into it.

I don't expect that people will care about my university GPA in 5 years time. I think that my understanding of the world as it works outside of the classroom will make more of a difference.

It's just frustrating that I require to tend to my GPA like a sick kitten in order to be able to show my ability.