In China during 605 CE,
in order to get a decent salary, students had to pass a series of tests. Exam
performance corresponded exactly to salary, denominated in piculs of rice; the
top scorers received more than 17 times as much rice as those in the lowest
tier. But the true rewards of exam success were considerably higher: besides
the steady salary, bribe collection made it very good to be a bureaucrat.
However, these tests were made more difficult as the number of people who were
able to pass them increased.
Failure could be
discouraging. Even though Hong Xiuquan was able to pass the first test, he was
unable to afford a tutor or to bribe the examiners, and suffered a nervous
breakdown. He attempted the test twice but, sadly, failed each time. Eventually
he convinced himself and a band of other young men who had been defeated by the
test that he was Christ’s younger brother. He assembled an army and began the
work of conquering China. He was unsuccessful and millions died in the process.
Even
today, young people are pushed into getting degrees. In this economy you need a
degree to have a decent paying job. However, college is really expensive and
hard to get into. Also, it is even harder to stay in. Sometimes the lucky can
get a good scholarship, but that does not happen very often. Most people do not
realize the stress that college students suffer while they are in school. It is
not some easy walk around the park. They have tons of work and what seems like
not enough hours in the day to get it all completed. Plus they have to make
good grades in order to maintain their scholarships. If not they will be paying
off those student loans for the next 10 years. This is very difficult and if
one little thing goes wrong than they can sometimes have nervous breakdowns
like Hong. Hopefully you will not try to convince anyone that you are the
chosen one, start a war, and end up killing millions of people in the process.
No wonder why so many people cannot survive through college.
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