“The only source of knowledge is experience,” said Albert Einstein. Human experience allows you to obtain knowledge from the realistic paradigm of human life. It enables you to apply your knowledge on practical feet – obtained from abstract information sources like books or the internet.
My flavor of life has been lost in the dust of directionless academics. A colleague told me his life story. He said I studied for hours during my college degree. I spent nights making notes. In the evening, we had a gathering at a local tea stall in our hometown. We discussed poetry, art, and literature there. On weekends we enjoyed trips to various local sites. I was good at academics as well. But here, I lost my passion. I am not participating in extracurricular activities. My well-being rate has declined in addition to my academic performance.
In light of my experience, I observed some causes for this academic flavor loss. I wanted to address some reasons and possible solutions in the respective paradigm. Financial stress can create illusionary fog in the academic atmosphere. A student fulfilling his stipends in a very stressful situation cannot remain focused on academics. I have observed that in the last few days, most students who belong to middle-class backgrounds worry about miscellaneous payments. Luxuries of student life are aside; they become a trap in the net of basic human needs. In this worst situation, it seems impossible to remain focused on your studies.
The work environment is not conducive to a new workforce. Financially weak students can join small corporates for low-income jobs. But it also becomes hard due to semester inflexibility. Students have a hectic academic schedule till 3:00 pm. Even if students would join part-time work, it will not ease their hurdles but rather make them more tired or unfocused on academics.
Government institutions or NGOs for financial aid should maximize their incentives for poor students. If they have limited resources, they should make amendments to the semester rules to make space for part-time work in the academic schedule.
At least officials should try to make the job market more welcoming to newcomers. In this regard, they can bridge the gap between industry and academia as a bold initiative.
Directionless academics is one of the biggest causes of illusion in academics. Students do not know what they want to do. They are still confused about the practical implications of their abstract knowledge. Pupils should identify the unique centers which are driving their interests. They should be eager to find the answer to this philosophical question: Who Am I? They can excel better in fields aligned with their unique interest centers.
As Will Durant defines, “Happiness or Pleasure lies in the fulfillment of a human’s naturalness.”
The next goal is to identify their location in the working market after graduation. The mantra is that most students are unaware of their seats in the job market. They left themselves at the mercy of time. Academic bosses should help students in the identification process of skills trends in the job market. Consequently, they will be able to acquire particular skills during higher studies in a non-foggy academic environment.
The 21st century is the age of multidisciplinary education. Various disciplines are merging into each other – one cannot become an expert without multidimensional thinking angles. For instance, technological advancements in sciences are judged on a humanitarian basis. To develop broader cognitive skills, reading can be fruitful. The academic environment should encourage broader reading habits among learners.
Ideas are valuable in every progressive field. Yuval Noah Harari writes in Homo Deus: The Flow of data will determine the future of a nation. Broader reading will encourage the pupils to accumulate ideas. I believe that the diverse ideas in the academic field will save learners from the illusion of academia.
