“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

 - Albert Einstein 

 

The world loves numbers. We use numbers for everything, living life having our intelligence and value determined by a number. This is starting to take a toll on millions of students across the globe. 

 

At a young age, we are all taught and tested in the same way as everyone else. The theory is good; memorizing is a way to understand a topic better. But in practice,it essentially rewires our brains to think and solve problems in a uniform way that erases our uniqueness. Imagination is what sets us apart from each other, but as we grow older, we have a choice of getting good grades and resorting to thinking as everyone else does or to live with our own imagination and independence while  risking our academic career. The standard way we are taught to think has essentially told us to  complete the typical “goals of life”: get good grades, go to university, get a job, and… die. These very standardized goals entrap many in lives they have never wanted. Students have been brainwashed into thinking that they can not be their own independent person and that the “typical” life is not always the best one for everybody.

 

Living the same life as everyone else and thinking just as they do takes our independence and uniqueness away. After all, the most interesting and successful people are the ones who stand out the most. They do this by using their individuality to implement their ideas and thoughts into life they actually want to lead. We are individuals and although we all feel the pressure of academics and grades, it is important to take a step back and remember that in the grand scheme of things, what matters most is not school or standardized testing, but the fulfillment we get from our decisions..