This is a peer response for Angela Chan’s free post “Education for Money and Living”. I agree with Angela that I also want my education to do both: make good money from something I like and give me a way to survive in this society. In the Bach example, Angela talks about how education (self-education) teaches Bach to find a job and success in his career. The main goal of Bach is to make money for a desired living through his interested field. Interestingly, I find that many of the college students nowadays care more about how their education can get them a better job (higher salary) rather than their real interest in their majors. Or in other cases, their family members and friends’ influent them to decide what they want to study. I personally think to study at a field of you interest is very important for future success. First, you have to really work hard to be “better than others”; second, if you don’t like your job, is going to be a torture because you have to keep doing the thing you don’t like for another forty years.

In another example of the purpose of education that Angela mentions, the monster in Frankenstein learns to adapt to human culture by observing his surround and mimic other humans. The monster learns to keep warm, find food and shelter while he explores the nature. His education teaches him the skills he needs to survive. Compare the monster’s education to our college experience, our studies in school is more like a preparation to the real world, while the monster is already be in the real world before he can get ready for it. I have the same feeling like Angela that I also don’t want my school education goes to a waste. I wish I could apply my calculus skill to calculate my budget for shopping, but that’s not the case. A lot of the subjects we learn right now are completely not related  to our future career, whether you want to be an accountant or a doctor. However, the time that we spend on these subjects are giving us a new choice for our future because the more you know and more skill you have, you will become more prepare for the real life challenge that is not so far before us.