Nerds ≠ Party

Nerds ≠ Party
By Seong Yong Steve Lee

I once came to Daewon believing that all students who come here are the brilliant ones that are able to handle both academic pressures and parties. After about a year, turns out to be false. (What a shame…) Everyone needs some kind of a break, such as a hobby, from whatever they do regularly; for Daewoninans it would be from studying. If one is unable to find its break from their main work they are probably unlikely to continue this unhealthy process of zealous obsession, even if you love what you do. And especially for those offspring’s of tiger moms, who are flogged to death to study. Failure to find an alternative result in illness in both mentally and physically, which results in irregular behaviors such as underage drinking, smoking, and etc. This issue is very big in Korea since many studies have shown that considerable amounts of students rely on smoking or drinking to relieve their stress. Also, for those innocent kids who try to find a better way out, the only places they can go are the PC rooms and Karaoke’s.
Byeol Akk had their yearly regular performance on November 8. Students came to relieve their stresses with the rock spirits from very few awesome kids in Daewon. Despite of the fact that the performance was great, all I saw was some nerds wondering in front of the stage starring at the vocal with their huge magnifying glasses on like a lost puppy trying to ask the person with the microphone for help. It was a very disturbing scene to watch and also very disappointing at the same time. What made it worse was that they were trying their best to enjoy the concert.
How do you expect these kinds of kids to become the future leaders of Korea when they cannot even jump to the beat? I am not saying that partying relates directly to one’s success but, through common sense it is reasonable to think that a person with such high rank should have a lot of experience and abilities; the ability to party is actually a vital characteristic required for one to become a leader since it is included in the area of sociability. In fact, Benjamin Franklin once stated that through an overnight party he was able to achieve twice more diplomatic relations compared to his colleague who worked overnight writing a letter.
Some argue that parties throw them off from their rhymes and results in lower grade. Then, are you going to study 24/7 for the next three years? As I said before, zealous obsession over studying not only results in mental and physical stress but also, decrease in productivity. So, the next question I have for them is “Do you want stress and less productivity or joy and high productivity?” The answer would obviously be the latter.
The final question is how do you balance these two things and how do I do it without breaking my rhythm? This is the factor that determines one from being called a “rebellious child” or a “son/daughter of God (meaning that the person is able to do both things without any drawbacks)”. I totally understand that it is hard to jump right back to school after partying and drinking (sodas) until 3A.M. the night before and you have only gotten 2 hours of sleep. It is obvious that you will be half in coma during class, maybe more but, not less. My suggestion is this. Do whatever you need to do to recover from the party to the original state, even if it requires skipping school the next day. (Just say you are sick or something, you can expand on this idea, a lot of creative ways to skip school) I understand that convincing your parents will be a hard step but, this is just another skill that requires to party. Going to class and sleeping on the desk will only slow down your recovery time due to the constant interruption by the teacher and discomfort from the wooden desk. (If you are going planning to sleep on the desk, I suggest a pillow, it leaves no marks on your face and it is more comfortable) So, it would be more convenient to just stay at home take some rest and later in the day, if you get bored, just review the things you have learned. Also for the people afraid of missing class and getting behind a day in their work, do not be so narrow minded. It is only “a” day out of all the numerous days we go to school and what can possibly go wrong during those seven periods? Also, you can make up for all the work just by copying all the notes from your friend or just visiting the teacher during break time. Once again recovery is the most crucial part of the switch and after the recovery you just jump right back to whatever you were doing.
By having the mindset like “I will rock out at the clubs when I go to college” or “I will get plastic surgery after I enter college and that should solve everything.” is wrong. There is no way that somehow you are magically going to learn how to party from the completion of your Sue Nung or SAT, as if you are learning a new skill by the completion of a mission on a video game. It is never going to happen unless you start now because playing is just as hard as studying. In fact, it might be harder. Studying only requires some obsession and patience whereas, playing requires great wit, physical strengths, planning, and everything listed under studying.
If you want to go to college, study hard. If you want to be successful, study and party hard.