Father said; “I will not be dependent nor wait for my children to do something or make me live a comfortable lifestyle. I will rather do it myself because children and life is so unpredictable.” There was a lot of pride in my eyes but my heart broke a little simultaneously.
Remember when that guy you like got a D for their English test and the whole class cheered him on and thought he certainly is “the ou” (the man)? Well I think not. Why do we as society condone such behaviour? I am not being a feminist or anything but I believe had a female got a D for any class test the class would not roar for her as much as they would for a male figure. Since when has it become a trend to fail all your modules and still look good doing it? It baffles my mind how I look around my environment and see how the youth take education for granted -the opportunity to grasp, to learn and be enriched with knowledge that could expand the human mind. Many a times, growing up and being labelled a “cool kid” was the norm and it still is. You have individuals who come from homes where their loved ones only wish well for them and want them to reach their full potential –hence, they are given this opportunity to be able to pursue their studies. However, students tend to ditch their studies or put minimal effort and they think it is completely fine failing all your subjects and repeating courses. Now, correct me if I am wrong but this piece will come across as some sort of argumentative essay –which it is because I am totally against this. The thing is, it is not that these individuals do not have the potential to succeed in these courses, no not at all. It is due to society’s “I am too cool for school” saying and some of them are certainly adapting to that. It breaks my heart knowing that back at home, we have left a number of family members who are dependent on our success, our growth. We have left our unemployed, poverty stricken parents –who do utmost anything to make sure we have all that we require and desire only for us to fail them tremendously. Even if you are being put through school by NSFAS or any other bursary or funding scheme that there is, I cannot fathom the thought of having to put any of the above mentioned juristic persons or parent or guardian through that. I recall having this conversation with an African father figure at the OR Tambo International airport sometime earlier on in January and we were just discussing life and parenting in general. He told me a little about his background and told me how he is aware that he is old and should be retired already but he has already instilled himself on (and I quote in his words); “I will not be dependent nor wait for my children to do something or make me live a comfortable lifestyle. I will rather do it myself because children and life is so unpredictable.” There was a lot of pride in my eyes but my heart broke a little simultaneously. Some of our parents have lost all hope in us as the youth to bring significant change. It is sickening and shameful.
So what does one gain exactly from failing their modules? Well I will tell you this, from my experience I have encountered a number of students who have failed some of their modules and some even the modules entirely! They would brag about it, stating that “I am not about that life fam.” Which I believe they are referring to they are not about putting in the work and hours of studying and just making sure their pigs are in a row. Well I am a sapiosexual –that is, I am attracted to the human mind so if you are not intellectual you can kick rocks because I am not having that. You can imagine my reaction each time I would hear someone brag about failing their modules and they still believe they look cool doing it. Criticism and shaming is what you will receive from fellow sapiosexuals or from people who get a sour taste in their mouth just from hearing you boast about such. On the other hand, you might get a nod or have friends pat you on the shoulder and just jokingly rave about your intentional poor performance.
People that know me on a very personal level know that I am of the firm belief of surrounding yourself with people who are great. You need to surround yourself with the great so that you too can be great. Varsity or being a student alone may come across as cool but it really requires one to be determined and just put in the hard work because one needs to live up to the name. There is so much power in being called or labelled a “student” You are about to utilize the weapon that is Education to bring iterating change to your community, your world, your universe as a whole! There are just too many people suffering. There are people who are yearning for the opportunity you have. The opportunity to BECOME that you are not taking into consideration. You need to be serious about life and being a student. It is crucial that you tap into this now and quit playing. This is something no one else but yourself can take away from you. I too, dislike studying at times but I know deep down I am fully aware that nothing great has ever come easy and that I have to continuously work with my head down so that when the year ends I will be able to reap the harvest of my labour. Your loved ones and I are not asking you to solely shift your focus on your studies. We are asking you to do right by yourself and to your future by putting your best foot forward in whatever that you do. It is not easy to just simply get by in life, it does not function like that.
Stay in school.
Love Always Panduleni
Yearn with Yeye 