I've just got two more days now till my first paper, AB 105, Organizational Behaviour and Development on Wednesday morning and everyone around me (with the exception of dear 01) has been stressing out and mugging like crazy. Seriously.
I look at all the cramming for exams happening around me and I really wonder just how is this all going to help produce a new generation of inspired, self actualized, competent individuals that can emerge as the leaders (and followers) of tomorrow. Really, how many people out there actually make money out of regurgitating facts that they memorized (other than the odd memory guru or brain-power trainer of course)?
I've been going through my OB textbook for the past couple of days, and thankfully, I actually enjoy reading the textbook. What I find important about subjects like OB is not so much the basic psychology and organizational theories covered in the textbook, but the social scientific process that resulted in the various theories that we learn.
Also, these theories and concepts are great stimulus for further thinking. It gives you this platform to view reality at a certain vantage point, a totally new perspective, and that's just one more wonderful way to appreciate the beauty that's this world.
Maybe that's the reason that I'll definitely take a philosophy course if NTU ever decides to offer one. It's just so much fun!
And now back to further philosophizing with my textbooks!
P.S. I just started using TwitterFox, this Firefox addon which allows you to recieve and write tweets through Firefox! Get it at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5081 if you use both Twitter and Firefox today! It's a total joy to use!
3 comments:
Hi Kevin,
I'm a marketing major student based in an Australian uni who's in the midst of having my exams.
I absolutely agree with you that cramming the whole textbook content into our already saturated brains would not make us a better person, except academically and that's it. Will our bosses promote us based on our abilities to memorise the theory or will we get promoted based on our competencies in applying what we learn in our job (E.g. in marketing, will the boss praise us for knowing every single step in the product life cycle by heart??).
That is why I decided to major in marketing in my final year. Just like you, I find it pointless to memorise everything verbatim from the textbook. I would rather study the theory and analyse how is it appropriate in a real-life situation. I do not see how memorising can get us far in life. Or am I just sour grape since I do not have that photographic memory like some of my course mates or the brains of Tony Buzan?
Whatever it is, it's back to mugging. :( Procrastination DID NOT buy over my studying schedule. It's just that assignments bought over my time. By the time the last piece was due, it was time for revision. and Nothing is ever better to kick-start my celebrations of the last assignment for the semester with the examinations!! Pun intended.
May God bless you for your papers! After all, you have been quite lucky; From DJ's win in the debate, to Obama as the President Elect and RPK's release.
All the best, pal.
kevin you have this really annoying habit of making extremely hasty assumptions and generalizations about the population to bolster the image you portray on your blog.. possibly as annoying as some find my habit of delivering criticism in a completely impersonal manner.. but i'm sure given your open-mindedness and high emotional intelligence, YOU wont find it annoying... hehe
anyway.. do you want to go to the biennale with me and yt and whoever else who wants to go after wednesday's paper? reply!
-grace
Kj,
It was a total pleasure reading your comment! It may seem like total coincidence, but after attending my school's talks on the business majors offered, I found that marketing seems to be the only major that makes sense to me. Maybe I'll be following in your footsteps too next year!
All the best for your exams! Thank you so much for your best wishes!
Grace,
Well, I believe that a lot of the time, generalizations and assumptions are useful to help us understand our very complicated world. And yes, I still love you despite the low EQ and SM tendencies. (:
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