The Panic-Button

Are students entitled for the substance commonly known as Health?

by 3POINT8 for Writing Contest 2008

Now that you are reading this, my guess is that you are highly intellectual and incredibly healthy. After all, you are in a fit condition to use the internet and you are intellectual enough to read.

If you are a Malaysian student planning or currently studying in tertiary education centre, chances are that you've been through primary school and secondary school or even a high school. My guess is that education and school defines your entire life. Being in an education centre, you are expected to study, go through exams and pass them with flying colours.

Coming from parents, from friends, from teacher and even your dog...These expectations, since when were we compelled to fulfill them? Since when was it a rule to say that we must live up to them? I do not recall anyone signing a contract saying that they have to score 80+ for their exams. I do not recall anyone promising to a legal entity saying that they have to sacrifice their sleep to finish their soon-to-due assignments.

Reflect back on your past grades. Do you remember skipping 38 meals and 44 nights of sleep to study for a major exam like SPM? Maybe that kind of figure was a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm pretty sure you would have sacrificed at least a night's sleep for an exam. Was the sleep deprivation worth the grade?

Think about it. A deprived sleep could impair your brain cells. And from what I heard, brain cells do not regenerate. (Yes, that is something to be afraid of)

Let look at a bigger picture. Do you care much about your past kindergarten grades, or your UPSR grades? Do you even care about the more recent ones, PMR, SPM and STPM grades? Or a more recent ones like college and university grades. Does it really matter 30 years down the road that you got a distinction for a subject?

So as long as you got the certificate at the end, does it really matter if you score a few hundred 'A's? I'd say: Intentionally killing your brain cells to trade for grades is a very bad trade. Your brain cells serve will serve you until you are six feet under but your grades can only do you good for up to a maximum of 2 years.

Chasing after perfect grades is an admirable act, but not at the expense of health. While most students chase after grades, friends, and new experiences, they often neglect the thing that is most important to them: HEALTH.

We are no superhuman, we do not have super-genes. In fact, we are all fragile humans vulnerable to diseases and unhealthy health habits. Sleeping late, skipping meal, smoking, drinking booze... those are the stuff that damages the body more than making a mockery of this article. In fact, mocking this article and the author is healthy as it stimulates your brain cell and encourages activity in the brain.

It is an unfortunate consequence of our civilization history that HEALTH is rarely given rational consideration by students, trapped by their perception of health being the least important factor in their life. I'd say it's time to turn the tide around. If you are reading this article 12am early in the morning, perhaps it's time to skip to the credit section, read the last bit and go to bed.