quote:
Originally posted by Arledrian:
The average job is roughly forty hours a week (standard 9 - 5). My school is exactly that. Except instead of specialising in a given field and being able to earn money with it, I have to spend my time studying thirteen different subjects which is more work than most people think. Not to mention all the homework and revision I have to do once I am home. It is also unpaid and utterly thankless.
It isn't that I resent going to school, it is more that I dislike it when people say school life is 'easy' - because for most of us, it isn't.
I wasn't saying that school is easy - but working *is* harder. And I don't mean having a job to give you pocket money while you study. Most people in work aren't specialising in a given field either - those who are working at something that interests them are rare and lucky. I have been to school, and got my degree by studying evenings and weekends while I was still working full-time - so I am familiar with how hard you have to study.
The thing about school is that you know that no matter how hard it is, it will end in a few years. With work, it will end in 40 or so years. If you're lucky, you may enjoy what you work at for some of those years, but many people don't.
Paying bills and keeping a roof over your head is hard and stressful. If you talk back to your teacher, you get in trouble, sure, but it doesn't threaten to put you out on the street with no food. Talking back to your boss *does*. Don't underestimate how much this impinges on your freedom to live the life you think you deserve. Parents and teachers tell you what to do. If you don't do it, you may be grounded, or suspended from classes. Bosses tell you what to do, and if you don't do it, no job, no paycheck, no home, no food, certainly no PC, no beer, no TV and no social life.
Yes, school is hard, I don't disagree with that - but compare it to the additional responsibilities you have as an employee (and sorry, but most people end up as employees, even with the best education) who's life depends upon keeping the boss happy - I look back and wonder what I fussed about.