About a week ago, I went for my university pre-admission medical checkup at the University Health Centre. The examining physician asked me a simple question – what are you doing in the university? Honestly speaking, I was stumped by his question. But being polite, I gave him a rather nonchalant response: “I’m here to receive an education to help better my future career options.”

Instead of being taken aback by my reply, he only sighed. He said, “There’s a difference between a degree holder and a graduate. The former only acquired a paper certification throughout his years of study while the latter would have received an all-rounded character development in addition to his obtaining of a degree.” His words got me thinking. After all, learning should be an interest, not a chore.

To be frank, today’s society focuses too much on paper qualifications. It’s already a prerequisite to opening up job opportunities. Education should not be solely a paper chase, but rather a pursuit of interests and broadening of perspectives. Negative mindsets apart, herd mentality ultimately underlies the pitfalls faced by today’s graduates. What really concerns them are whether their future career paths would give them the best prospective.

Evidently, their happiness is driven by money and more money. But they have failed to notice that there’s much more to life than just the satisfaction of material wants. Money can only do that much. A high-paying job doesn’t necessarily equate to job satisfaction. Therefore, rather than embarking on a path that promises riches but zero job satisfaction, do something that you know you’ll be happy in, even if it pays a little lesser.