To achieve something, does someone else always have to have achieved it? In my country, around me, most people follow the same path or are influenced by what people say. I don’t think they really know what they want. Most people follow the same path anyway, like everyone else, you have to do well in school, get into a local university, get a degree, and then things will be clear. But is that really what I want?
I would tell most people that the most important thing for me is to get an education. I would say that because that’s how people around me described it. But I went on vacation, there were no classmates or teachers, no one forced me to study. I would sit in front of the computer all day playing video games. Even though the vacation had been going on for a few weeks, I hadn’t opened a book once. I would just spend my days playing video games. One day, while browsing the internet, I came across a picture that read, “What you are doing now is who you are. Your face when you are alone is who you really are.” The internet was not working at that moment. I stared at the picture for a few minutes before loading a new page, and a question came to me: “If people had not told me anything, if no one had influenced me, would I have really entered the field and university that I said I would have gone to? Would I have searched for myself even if no one had told me about it? What do I really want?” I couldn’t answer these questions as I always did. If I really wanted to learn, why didn’t I ever take a class when no one was watching? Why did I postpone my plans?” Then I realized that I didn’t know what I wanted, but until now I had never really wanted to study. I only studied when someone told me to. From that day on, I changed my worldview. From then on, I didn’t study for anyone. I started doing it for myself, not for someone’s praise or the environment, but because I really wanted knowledge. I didn’t need someone to start me. I can go myself.
In my country, high school students rarely do their own research. Because here, no one encourages them and almost no one leads the way. I think that almost no one from my school has done anything for research. But just because no one has done it doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t do it. As long as I want to study and can do it myself, if no one starts, I will start first. Now, even if there is no one to guide me, I will do something independently.
I have participated in free online courses from Yale, Princeton, and MIT, focusing on economics. These courses have enhanced my understanding of economic principles and strengthened my interest in researching solutions to real-world economic challenges. By those things, I am proving that I want knowledge which can help people.
I think the Lumiere program is one of the best ways to do something independently for knowledge.By participating, I can also guide high school students who need guidance in facing the global world of knowledge.