If you just graduated and had a choice, would you be willing to go back to studying in secondary school?

This is a little reflection that only people of the same age can understand

These past few days at a gathering, my cousin in junior high seemed quite interested in college life.

He asked me: How do you feel about graduating soon

Me: A bit panicked

Cousin: Aren't you super happy about starting work

Me: Not really. Once you work there are no winter and summer breaks. I now feel student days were the best; the pressure now is huge

My cousin couldn't understand; he thinks I'm much freer than he is.

---

Feeling that student days were better is indeed my thought, but if you asked me to do it all over again, I probably wouldn't want to.

Why do I say only people of the same age can understand? Because elders are too far from that age. They've already been beaten up by society, so of course they miss that student life of not worrying about money and only doing one thing. Kids, meanwhile, are receiving the baptism of knowledge (the torment of homework and exams) and think not having to study would be so free and easy... Only we of the same age, who left secondary school just a few years ago and haven't truly entered society yet, can understand this feeling.

Thinking back now, secondary school days really were wonderful. Nothing else all day but studying and playing ball, not so many worries. Academically, I didn't really need to worry about my grades. That kind of life still sounds pretty good when you think about it.

But thinking more carefully, this is probably just my fantasy. I recall looking at my old diary a while ago: life back then (in secondary school) was still full of all kinds of worries—lots of homework, no time to do the things I liked, family restricting my interests (studies first).

Actually the most important point is still freedom. In secondary school, after all, you were a minor, restricted at every turn. Elders believed studying was the only right thing (and in fact it was), but people need some kind of interest to relax with, right? Too many restrictions is pretty miserable. And it wasn't just family restrictions—there were also the restrictions you put on yourself, because the pressure of the high school and college entrance exams was always sitting on your chest. I feel only two kinds of students have no pressure: study gods, and slackers. Miserable students like us in the upper-middle are the ones who suffer most. Without the talent of the study gods, we can only make up for it with hard work, so we don't dare slacken for a moment. Never mind pressure from home—even wasting a little time, you feel guilty yourself =_=.

That was roughly the state of mind then. After all I was still too young, getting smug after learning a bit of something others didn't know, but in the end I still had to bury my head and grind like most people to get into college...

If I had to live that life again, I'd rather not—too miserable... But if I really went back in time I'd definitely study hard (no, I don't want to)

(Time to work hard and make money...)