this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
388 points (96.0% liked)
Greentext
4004 readers
2461 users here now
This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.
Be warned:
- Anon is often crazy.
- Anon is often depressed.
- Anon frequently shares thoughts that are immature, offensive, or incomprehensible.
If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.
founded 11 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Seriously? If you're going to university you'll be fine regardless of where it ranks, how can that possibly be worth destroying your teenage years? Is this just social attitudes in Korea or does it actually make any difference?
So the American equivalent is pretty much going to the ivy League then going to work at FAANG or a law firm or finance firm that only hires from the ivies.
That stuff all exists in the US and it's certainly something many Americans aspire to as evidenced by the whole college admissions coaching industry.
What you're seeing out of Korea is presented as though ALL families are basically telling their kids that they'll be disowned if they fail to achieve these lofty heights.
The reality is that there are a ton of more accessible universities throughout the Korean peninsula that kids attend and they end up with reasonable jobs living reasonable lives, current situation of unaffordable housing and rampant debt notwithstanding.
I would agree that many if not most Korean students spend significantly more time studying than their American counterparts. I will not agree that it's universally effective to do so.
Source: Lived in Korea for four years in the nineties and eventually married into it. Though I will admit some of my experiences may be outdated as I haven't been keeping up with latest trends.
Teenage years are short, a degree lasts forever. Considering how people without a top-notch university degree are treated, I'd much prefer no childhood than such a degrading life in general. People visibly frown at you or change topics when you tell them which school you're in, as if they heard about some tragic disaster.
It's a country where almost everyone is a college graduate, and only a few are actually considered to be college-educated. Some people even hide their degrees to land a job at a sweatshop or something.
Yes, it's messed up. But I jokingly tell my parents that they should've been way harder on me than they were because I only got into where I ended up, which I think was very lucky, but not the best either. Yes, I'm a big conformist, one of the qualities Korean culture requires that I've learned over the years.
Everything you’ve written on this thread is very depressing. What is even the point? Why does anyone even want to live in Korea? It sounds like an absolute nightmare tbh.
I’d expect to be mass immigration away from Korea.
It's not trivial for most people to leave their home, culture, language, family, friends, etc and move to another country
I know… but my country has way more emigration and it doesn’t suck nearly as bad as Korea…
*And also, I know I would 100% feel differently if I was born in Korea, but I would resent the fuck out of my parents, culture and government if that was my life. People joke China is cyberpunk, but South Korea seems way more dystopic.
Suicide is more their style.
Just as an anecdote: there is a huge Korean population in Canada. I'd say there is currently a mass emigration, but I suppose only for those able to afford it and want leave at the same time.
That's so alien to me. Well congrats on making it through that meat grinder of a system in one piece!
That sounds depressing.
Being a teenager is pretty overrated tbh
Yeah but so is having a piece of paper that's slightly better than someone else's. Don't burn yourself out for either.