Paradise


A quote to get this post started:

“Sounds like paradise” — a friend commenting on my description of the Danish welfare system.

The other night, I overheard two of my friends talking about how one specific Summer has been their best ever. The reasons vary but most of the time it has something to do with them having actual time off for an extended period — like a month or so. With some generalizing (sorry), here is the normal trail of life events for most Americans I’ve met so far:

Elementary school –> middle school –> high school –> college

Contrary to this, here is what me and most of my friends did:

Elementary school –> middle school –> high school –> travel/self-realisation/figuring out life/work –> college

Now, why am I mentioning this? Well first of all, in Denmark, we can do this because we are not paying for our education, i.e. the second we fly out of our parents nest, we are (in theory) not dependent on them and we are not dependent on having a job either. We actually “get paid” to study. This is why Denmark is paradise according to my friend.

But I am not merely trying to brag about the perfect conditions for studying in Denmark. I am trying to sympathise. Because the conditions will never change in USA. Ever. I’m sorry guys, you can fight for it but the current health care debate shows that over half of the population is not ready to take the step and probably never will.

However, there are other options and my point is: Forget about work/school/requirements of society sometimes. Take some time off, relax, enjoy life. Sure, this can go hand in hand with school but only to a certain extent. Going abroad? Fine, cool, nice, I will be the first one to say that that is an awesome experience. But it is often still school/work. I’m talking about doing something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Go to tibet and hang out with the monks or something. (did I do that? No :-)

I am a fairly normal, very average Danish person. So it strikes me that I have still done so much more than any of my way cooler friends here in the states. I have had so much more time off to be myself and do what ever I wanted and I have cherished that time because I know it will never be the same once I graduate from the university. Most people seem to work hard/take courses during the Summer here in the states. In fact, I don’t know anyone right now that are doing nothing (like me) and just enjoying having 3 months of inactivity. Alright alright, working in the Summer is also the case for many Danes but my philosophy (for the most part) is: Don’t.

I hope I won’t upset anyone by writing this. My good friend Thomas gave me another perspective on this matter over lunch today, basically saying that my thoughts are unrealistic. “If you’re not doing anything then you’re considered lazy”. I am concerned about this workaholic mentality. There certainly are other factors to consider and I am very generalizing but tell me what you think?

I’ll end this post with a few quotes and a link.

“I think taking time off after high school will prevent you from getting into the university you want” — Thomas.

“Because Americans are all about getting up and getting work done” — Former roommate Dan when I asked why bars close at 2 AM?

Do what you love — an essay by Paul Graham, the co-founder of Yahoo, about doing what you love.

The college doesn’t matter that much — another essay by Paul Graham about how your college doesn’t really matter that much.

Thanks to Patrick for the links.

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2 responses to “Paradise”

  1. Yes, we do have something of a workaholic culture.

    And yes, it is very much expected that you will go straight to college if you have any brains in your head.

    These are probably not good things…although, when I finished high school, there was nothing that I wanted to do more than move away from home, and college was the perfect outlet for that.

    Looks like a cool article from the Yahoo guy, I’ll read it later.

  2. I understand that getting away from your parents can be one factor to start college right out of high school. In fact, there are probably a lot of good reasons and it’s all individual. I am just happy I didn’t and that I wasn’t “expected” to do so…