The Importance Of Academic Achievement

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Academic achievement was something I took pride in. It was important for me to feel as though I was exceeding the expectations and requirements of the education system I was in. While reading chapter 16 of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, my viewpoints on academic achievement changed. Now I realize that my previous idea of academic achievement was incorrect.
There are many aspects of the current education system that negatively impact student’s development and growth. Imitation is an aspect in the current education system that does not promote learning for content but memorizing for test scores and grade point averages. In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, Pirsig states, “As …show more content…

Pirsig wrote, “He felt that by exposing classes to his own sentences as he made them, with all the misgivings classes to his own sentences as he made them, with all the misgivings and hang-ups and erasures, he would give a more honest picture of what writing was like than by spending class time picking nits in completed student work or holding up the completed work of masters for emulation” (Pirsig 173). In my mind, this statement reflected how I felt towards the educational experiences I had where the instructor would read directly from the textbook or PowerPoint or …show more content…

In all honesty, this statement was hard to develop simply because after analyzing what Pirsig wrote and reflecting on my personal experiences, it seems as though the educational system just made me more susceptible to the ignorance within my own desire to achieve. However, I do recognize that because of the ignorance within my desire to achieve, I received the high grades, test scores, and results that put me into the position of being accepted into Central Michigan University’s Honors Program. Within the Honors Program I will be collecting more meaningful academic achievement. The Honors Program has and will continue to challenge me to do so, like this assignment. This assignment requires me to identify my previous flaws in academic achievement and allow me to reach higher standards. So yes, my previous academic achievement shaped me in a ‘good’ way because it led me to an educational institution where I will be able to obtain and recognize true academic

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