Friday, May 22, 2009
10,000 Hours
This is kind of dumb, but I do think and worry about all of you a lot.
Probably too much, because I am not your Mother, or sister, or friend, but just your teacher.
I'm like this with my form class every year. And I will worry and nag and scold and worry and nag and scold.
I can understand why some of you say I should just find a boyfriend and get a life. :P
I know many of you have really tried your best on the MYE. Really really tried. I can see it in your English essays, which I felt happy marking. I know it hurts when your efforts don't pay off.
One thing I want to share with all of you in class, if there is time next week, is the theory of 10,000 hours, which is very popular in the US right now. It's from a book, "10,000 hours," by Malcolm Gladwell.
The idea is that you need to put in 10,000 hours of hard work in order to be really good at something.
The book suggests that people whom we consider "geniuses," e.g. Bill Gates, or the Beatles, were not born with their talents. They just put in 10,000 hours of hard work in a certain area to become outstanding. Once they hit 10,000 hours, what they did became effortless.
Of course, luck played a part as well. Many factors contribute to success (e.g. family support, having teachers who can guide you properly), but one of the key factors you can control is good, old-fashioned HARD WORK.
If you count all the hours you have spent in school so far since Secondary 1, and also doing your homework and revision at home, have you hit 10,000 hours?
8 hours a day X 5 days a week X 30 weeks (not including holidays) X 5 years = 6,000 hours.
We are not studying to become geniuses, so 6,000 hours of study would probably prepare us quite well for the O levels.
If you have paid attention in class since Sec 1 and done your homework and revision consistently, you would have put in about 5,000 hours of hard work by now. You are very close to the 6,000 hours you need to do well. However, if you became distracted along the way, then you have lost some hours.
Now, you have to make up for what you have lost. It's not too late.
Every hour of hard work you put into your studies is like a coin you put into a piggy bank. If you don't put in coins at all, the bank will be empty forever. If you have discipline and put one in everyday, it starts to fill up. Some days, you shake the piggy bank but it still sounds empty. You feel like giving up. However, if you persevere, one day, the 6000th coin will go in. The piggy bank will finally be FULL, and you can enjoy the rewards of your hard work.
My point is this: hard work and success are built up over time. No one in this world has EVER succeeded overnight. Nor did they ever do it without sweat, blood and tears involved.
One reason I really hope for all of you to make it to polytechnic is that there are many improvements coming to polytechnics. Some polytechnics are going to work with overseas universities to offer degrees in certain courses. There will also be a 4th university being set up, so more university spaces will be open to polytechnic graduates.
If you can clear this hurdle, so many more opportunities will be available to you.
Don't give up now.
You can do it.
If I did not believe in you, I would not be your teacher.
Miss Ruby
