I HAVE been a student for most of my life. I’m sure many other youngsters can relate to this. For many of us, school is all we know. The truth is, many of us also don’t fall in love immediately with academia. I remembered some days in primary school and secondary school; it felt like a drag. It felt so routined and much like a task to complete. Some days, it was so hard to concentrate. I remembered asking myself, “how do people fall in love with school?”, “how do the straight-A students even love coming to school every day?” Eventually, that allowed me to further ask myself this question; “what motivates them to push themselves further, even on bad days?” My parents instilled in me that education is important. It’s an important thing to have and acquire in life. However, much emphasis wasn’t placed on the “why”. Why is education so important to begin with? When I found out my “why”—I found a reason to fall in love with academia.

No, this isn’t a romance piece, but it is a piece dedicated to enlightening you all on how I fell in love with academia with the hope of inspiring you to feel the same way as well. Initially, I realised my personal barriers made it difficult to enjoy the world of academia, as well as the external factors at play such as: bad experiences with teachers or poor educational system management. So no, it isn’t always your fault. Sometimes, it is difficult to love or like something that is mismanaged, non-inclusive and lacklustre. The minute I found teachers who genuinely cared about my ability to learn—that’s the minute my attitude changed towards academia. That is when I started to understand that the love of academia shouldn’t be a two-way street. The administrations and teachers should love their job & education and then emulate or project said love to you as well.

Believe it or not, my love for academia wasn’t solidified until I entered the tertiary level. I know love is a strong word to use, but it is my hope that many youngsters can love or even like academia from an early age. They must be taught the importance of education and why it’s important to learn. They must develop a passion for learning, a desire to understand how the world works, and a drive always to be knowledgeable. I fell in love with academia after understanding where it can take me in life. My passion for always learning new things is actually what birthed this column section, to begin with. I have a love for always reading and researching new topics and areas of study. I also eventually understood that education would be my way of breaking generational cycles. I am the second person in my family to graduate with a degree. With education and ultimately a love for academia—comes great opportunities for jobs, studying and exposure.

It’s also not always about books and theories.The world of academia allowed me to also solidifY my perspectives and beliefs. It allowed me to explore new topics & broke down complexities into simplicities. I know we all have our own different paths to walk on, and not every child will be able to have the same yearning desire to learn. Nonetheless, I believe that our education systems ought to make it easier for children to love going to school every daY; they should all have a positive reason for wanting to attend school every day, and that starts with a safe and friendly environment. I do hope to continue writing on the love-hate relationship young people share with academia. It’s only fitting to continue this series in future column sections, with the hope of allowing you to dive deep and understand what your barriers are that prevent you from enjoying, liking or loving the amazing world of academia.