Student loan

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/12/story.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=10471754&pnum=2

My Reply:

Like another student has pointed out. People just do not realize how lucky we are to have the student loan system in the first place.

As a medical student, I have the largest university fees (~$11000 pa) this means by the time I graduate I would have accumulated ~$60 000 in a student loan. Instead of moaning about this, I am extremely grateful for the NZ people (I am an immigrant) to help subsidize my fees. The REAL cost of a medical education comes to around $250 000. That is a cost that my parents cannot afford to pay. So thank you New Zealanders for giving me the chance to achieve my dreams.

I also work part time and during the summer so I calculate that by the time I graduate, I would have paid off my loan.

In addition, the student loan is interest free! What more can you ask for?

I think when people complain about their student loan, they do not realize that tertiary education is not their RIGHT. It is a choice that a person chooses to invest in their future. It involves costs (the loan) and future benefits (higher pay). Its a trade off not a freebie.

The Zen of Mowing the Lawn?

A few days ago I had to mow the lawn because mum was getting rather agitated and annoyed at my procrastination. I felt quite peeved off, eh.. couldn’t the lawn wait till the next day?? Sulking angrily I started to start the bloody lawn mover. So there I was pulling my heart out at the string cable which starts the engine.

It said no to me.

After 10 tries and the spiking of my blood pressure and frustration levels I found out that there was no petrol…

After grudgingly pouring in the petrol, I started mowing. To those who havn’t found the joys of lawn moving it consists of pushing strenuously at this 180kg beast of a machine against the huge resistance of the earth and the grass.

Usually the earth won (curse my non-flat backyard *throwing fist*). And so my lawn mower stops. To coax my reluctant lawn mower back into life, I had to go through this huge involved ritual which consists of cleaning studiously the grass off the damn thing, pushing the obese lawn mower onto flat ground and pulling fruitlessly at the starter string.

With my frustration levels rising, in my head I vented my anger at my mum.

It seems to help… abit…

After awhile I settled down and just thought about my predicament. I have to be nice to mum because she provides me with free food and rent. I also cannot change her unreasonable anger. So… I do not have any options… you can’t choose mums eh?

After deciding that I had to mow the lawn I tried to think of what a Buddhist would do. I read somewhere that happiness is a function of the mind so you have to train yourself to be happy. So I tried that.

I viewed mowing the lawn as a kind of suffering. (Which is quite self indulgent as this suffering in the grand scheme of things is very transient - it is nothing compared to others who are really suffering). Life is full of suffering. So the best thing you can do is to accept this suffering and to find ways to reduce the suffering (like… cutting the grass more regularly so it is easier to cut the next time around).

Strangely enough after thinking like this (and endorphins rushing through my body because of my wildly contorted muscles) I reached a feeling of contentment. A zen like feeling where I found the cause of my suffering and I accepted it calmly and without judgment.

Interesting...

Purpose and objectives

A few millenniums ago a person asked the famous Oracle of Delphi who was the wisest person in Athens, the answer was Socrates. That person was shocked, after all Socrates was a humble man, a stone carver. He wondered why Socrates was chosen among all the famous learned philosophers, the eminent doctors and the silver tongued lawyers. That person, stumped for answers went out and told Socrates the news.

It happened that Socrates too was stunned. Being Socrates, he went out and tried to find out if he is indeed wise. And he did this by waylaying the learned of Athens and asked them simple questions about life, about the nature of truth, of beauty and morality.

What he found was intriguing. These learned people thought they knew, indeed they told Socrates quite a mouthful. But their words, Socrates realized were just that, simple assertions. They thought that they know about virtue, about the good and about morality. Sure, Socrates did not know too but he did not presume to know what he did not.

That was the difference. And so started his journey. Starting from a position of doubt we can move onto a synthesis, a general agreement and a progression towards truth. This is the Socratic journey. The journey seeking truth.

I am embarking on this journey. A 2^nd year medical student trying to get to grips with the illness of a loved family member and trying to find out who exactly I am… to find my own place in this world.

My journey will be deeply personal, I will try and express all my suppressed emotions, my goals, my challenges and my failures.

It will be partly historical. After all, a large part of who I am now has to do a lot with my upbringing.

I imagine this to be the most difficult. Being a really private person, I do not have many intimate friends to share my “darkest secrets”. I seem to be unwilling to be able to trust another person to be non-judgemental. Perhaps I am too self conscious. Perhaps I am lacking a sort of personal self confidence - irrespective of other people's opinions.

It will be self expression of my ideas. After all my philosophy on life reflect greatly on what sort of person I am. Also, being an intellectual person who is more concerned with the abstract rather than details. So naturally, I do not often find a venue to express my thoughts (its rather rude to discuss politics, economics, morality over lunch!). This blog would be a venue for me to express clearly and logically my thoughts on paper.

Like Socrates, I will start from a position of ignorance. Of doubt and confusion. But steadily, through a dialogue with you the reader, my friends and myself. Hopefully we will move on and find the truth.

So.... onwards!!!