Life is a meritocracy. Or at least in my view, it should be. Down with the monarchy, nepotism, or any other system that propels, promotes, or advances an individual or group for a purpose other than ability or achievement.
I believe the notion of a meritocracy has become more acute over these last five weeks as an English teacher, where I’ve wielded (minimal) authority over young students. If my students do their work, they are rewarded accordingly. Stickers, candies, and praise are showered upon those willing to participate, engage, and behave. It is those students who shall inherit the earth, my earth (and yes, I just made a Kanye West “I Am A God” style metaphor to really drive my point home, get over it).
To return to the idea of a meritocracy: I was (and certainly still am in a number of ways) the “entitled millennial” we all read about in TIME, Forbes, Mashable, etc. It was this notion that was the impetus behind the creation of this blog. I graduated from a good university, (mostly) went to and engaged in my lectures, completed my assignments, was heavily involved in student life, and graduated in the traditional four year time span. As a result, I felt I was owed something along the lines of “swanky corner office on the 45th floor in the big city, followed by an evening of overflowing cocktails at various lounges overflowing with like-minded yuppies”, for my hard work during those fond university years.
Look at the hope in those eyes!
This sense of entitlement, this claim to the so-called “postgraduate promised land” consumed me for an entire year, where I struggled telemarketing, selling software I knew little to nothing about, and dripping sweat while preparing various Japanese dishes. All difficult tasks to master in their own respects, but quite unfulfilling.
It was at this point that two things happened simultaneously. First, I ditched the notion that I was owed anything for working hard for four years upon the realization that the rest of my life will (and should be) about meaningful, hard work. Second, I decided to analyze both my past experiences and my strengths to determine what would I truly enjoy doing as a career (even if only in the short term). It wasn’t long before I arrived at the answer: teaching. I mean, I had worked at summer camps in Ontario and Quebec nearly every summer since the age of 14, and I already had experience teaching English for a summer in Germany and Spain, so it sort of seemed like a no-brainer; I almost kicked myself for not arriving at this conclusion 6 months earlier, but when you are completely overtaken with the entitlement plague, two of the symptoms are blurred vision and a cloudy mind.
After lots of preparation and red tape, we fast forward 7 months later to me, comfortably typing to you from my school in Busan. One of my favourite students just ran by the door, but not before stopping and saying “hi Dylan Teacher!”
I am not exactly positive if teaching as a profession is something I will want to do beyond 2014 when my contract is finished, but I am certainly not discounting it. At this stage, I’m excited to see what teaching will teach me about myself and my strengths and the ways in which I’ll grow over the next 11 months. I’m hopeful the entitlement plague may be eradicated.
Star up, star down: All in a day’s work
This finally brings me back to the original idea of a meritocracy. My students who misbehave usually receive 3 simple warnings before I move their star down on the Star Board. The Star Board is essentially the cover of People magazine in any given class – it tells you who is the most relevant, and who holds the highest status. I’ve gotten into the habit when rewarding my students with a “star up” by saying “A Gold Star for you, [blank]!” in a goofy voice, despite the actual stars being orange, green, pink, or blue. Derp.
Oddly enough, this morning on the metro to work, I noticed that four of the top played songs in my Recently Added folder (otherwise known as the “NEWBZ” playlist) all contain the word “gold” in their title. This was completely coincidental – I discovered one from an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, one from an episode of Orange is the New Black, one from Pitchfork, and one from HypeMachine. All four tracks are completely different in rhythm, tempo, and feel but usually boost me from a silver to a gold star day.
I truly hope the same is true for you. Enjoy!
Millennial Abroad 