this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
386 points (96.0% liked)

Greentext

4459 readers
1248 users here now

This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] smeg@feddit.uk 38 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Although in hindsight, I'd rather have them absolutely destroy my sleep schedule than ending up getting in to less favorable university than I got in

Seriously? If you're going to university you'll be fine regardless of where it ranks, how can that possibly be worth destroying your teenage years? Is this just social attitudes in Korea or does it actually make any difference?

[–] Got_Bent@lemmy.world 29 points 10 months ago

So the American equivalent is pretty much going to the ivy League then going to work at FAANG or a law firm or finance firm that only hires from the ivies.

That stuff all exists in the US and it's certainly something many Americans aspire to as evidenced by the whole college admissions coaching industry.

What you're seeing out of Korea is presented as though ALL families are basically telling their kids that they'll be disowned if they fail to achieve these lofty heights.

The reality is that there are a ton of more accessible universities throughout the Korean peninsula that kids attend and they end up with reasonable jobs living reasonable lives, current situation of unaffordable housing and rampant debt notwithstanding.

I would agree that many if not most Korean students spend significantly more time studying than their American counterparts. I will not agree that it's universally effective to do so.

Source: Lived in Korea for four years in the nineties and eventually married into it. Though I will admit some of my experiences may be outdated as I haven't been keeping up with latest trends.

[–] Socsa@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Being a teenager is pretty overrated tbh

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 13 points 10 months ago

Yeah but so is having a piece of paper that's slightly better than someone else's. Don't burn yourself out for either.