South Korean Students vs. American Students

For my Blog Post, I read a blog from EatYourKimchi.com about the difference between North American and Korean students. Did you know that Korean high school students will go to school around six or seven in the morning and won't come home until around ten-o-clock at night? Korean student life is highly involved in studying to be the best, because the only way to get into a good college is to be the best and to have the best grades. Unlike in America, it is a necessity to have straight A's to go to college in Korea. A lot of Korean students rarely get time to hang out with friends or even sleep. They spend so much time studying that it eventually takes over their lives, and they don't get to experience what it's like to just be a teenager. In America, we have a concept of individualization. Here, when you are in high school, you get to discover things that your good at and what you like. It is all about finding yourself, thinking outside the box, speaking up, and essay writing. While in South Korea, they are all about fitting in, listening to lectures made by their teachers, knowing only one right answer, and succeeding on multiple choice tests. There are some advantages to Korean student life though. I know you're probably thinking, "What? Having to live a life of only studying? How can anything good come from that?" Well since the students spend so much time studying, they don't have time to have to worry about relationships, jobs, or peer pressure, and they end up very well behaved, even if they are stressed out. Some Korean students are so stressed out sometimes that they can't even handle their own lives. Yes, in the end, the majority of Korean students have greater academic skills than in America, but is it actually worth it? A lot of Americans succeed without having to be good at math or science, and succeed on things that they enjoy like arts or entertainment. So, next time you think about complaining about having to do a fifteen problem math worksheet for homework, think again. Maybe, you are the lucky one here. You get to do your homework and maybe an hour or so of studying, then you're usually done. Which one would you think is the better life? Life or a Korean student or life of an American student?