Breaking Free: Rediscovering the Essence of Education beyond Gaokao

Breaking Free: Rediscovering the Essence of Education beyond Gaokao This essay reflects on the intense pressure of the Gaokao exam in China and its impact on students' mental well-being. The author shares a personal experience of a friend struggling with depression due to the exam's overwhelming demands, ultimately leading to a self-reflection and decision to explore a wider path of learning and personal growth beyond the confines of Gaokao. I am a student in a public school in China, where the infamous Gaokao exam holds significant importance for students. This one-time test is believed to determine our entire future. As a result, we find ourselves constantly repeating and memorizing materials, engaging in countless practice sessions, and forgetting the true essence of education. We become so consumed by this exam that we fail to realize it is not the sole defining factor in our lives. Most schools finish all the content in two years and use the third year to review the material, which is not how these three-year courses were originally designed. However, my senior high school took a different approach. They selected 40 smart kids from our own junior high to take grade 10 courses while we were still in grade 9. As a result, we forty kids finished all the courses in the early first semester of grade 11, leaving us almost 2 years to repeat these materials and strive for a perfect score. One of my close friends, WY, used to be a straight-A student, always laughing and enjoying life. However, his grades took a turn for the worse after we finished all the courses. I could sense that he often wanted to say something to us, but just couldn't bring himself to do it. He would talk about dreams and aspirations, but our responses were always about grades or something irrelevant. Until one day, he stopped showing up at school. At first, my classmates didn't seem worried. They thought he might have just gotten a fever or fallen ill. But as time went on and he still didn't return to school, I became concerned. I couldn't contact him and began to fear the worst. Eventually, I discovered that the immense pressure surrounding Gaokao had taken a toll on WY. He had succumbed to serious depression and decided to drop out of school for a semester. Learning about WY's struggle made me pause and reflect upon my own mental well-being. As I took a long look at myself, it felt as if my soul was flying out of my body to observe the entire class. All the students were like machines, working hard without feeling, and I too was one of these machines. My soul gazed upon my body, a vessel that moved mechanically as if controlled by unseen forces. It was like a puppet, dancing to the whims of other puppets around it. Yet, upon closer observation, it became clear that all the puppets were entangled in a complex web of control, each one influencing the next. There was no singular puppet master manipulating the strings; instead, it was a tangled network of interdependence. It was a startling realization - I too was grappling with mental problems. Caught in the whirlwind of endless studying and competition, I had unknowingly trapped myself in a meaningless loop. All my efforts were directed towards running in one direction, but I hadn't even spent time deciding which path to take. Motivated by this realization, I decided to visit WY and have a conversation with him. By the end of our conversation, I made a decision to explore areas outside the narrow scope of Gaokao and to begin learning English seriously. I decided to pursue higher education in the western world. Education is meant to nurture our minds, broaden our horizons, and help us develop both intellectually and emotionally. It should not be reduced to a single exam that determines our worth. Yet, in the midst of preparing for Gaokao, the true purpose of education often gets lost. We become so focused on achieving high scores and securing a bright future that we forget to explore our passions, cultivate critical thinking, and embrace the joy of learning. It is crucial for us to break free from this monotonous loop and rediscover the true essence of education. We must learn to prioritize our mental well-being, explore different areas of knowledge, and pursue our interests. Gaokao may play a role in shaping our future, but it should not define our entire existence. Let us remember that there is more to life than a single test, and that our worth extends far beyond a score on a piece of paper. In conclusion, it is important to choose our battles wisely and never forget why we started. We must not allow the pressure of exams to overshadow the true purpose of education. Let us break free from the confines of Gaokao and embrace a more holistic approach to learning. Our worth lies not in a single test, but in our ability to grow, explore, and pursue our passions.