Credential Dictation
I designed my website over a year ago after taking a web design elective course a semester prior to its launch. Everyone was surprised and questioned whether or not I actually coded my website from scratch because I didn’t study computer science in college as well as reasons combined with other opinions they have of me--
my gender, what they view of my alma mater (which makes them view less of me), how they’ve always felt superior to me
for whatever reason that makes them feel entitled, or always being negative by trying to find flaws in others to make
them feel better about themselves.
How do I know this? Aside from the times when they admit the truth about how they underestimate me, when the topic of my
website comes up, people would ask me, "So what program did you use to make your website?" ... "Notepad." After my
response, some would look confused so I'd explain further that I wrote out the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript codes on
Notepad. After that, some would be silently in disbelief while others would respond, "So you really did make it from
scratch," still in disbelief.
You don't need a degree or certificate to obtain any skills or to learn anything new after graduating or during your
education. We've been taught to get an education and that whatever we study is what we'll only become. Even with
degrees, there are plenty of "professionals" who do not live up to their credentials. We've been fed into believing this
process and claims that it's the correct method of living.
The U.S. school system is majorly flawed. Students are only memorizing and being unnecessarily competitive. Competition
doesn't promote effective learning, it only increases the reliance on results, which is the importance of winning.
Winning includes entitlement, reputation, power, and money, which is emphasized as the most important things in this
world. Competition demoralizes students when they don’t obtain said results. Ergo, all of these principles regarding
education only fill up people’s pride and successfully convinces the majority of the population that their education
(later their job and income) is their whole identity and they’re lucky if they achieve a degree and work at an indoor
office job, so that means they should become complacent and shouldn’t try to improve themselves anymore.
In this kind of lifestyle, we can only wait until the moment where we get the chance to be happy. In the process prior
to that result, we have to work on gaining credentials, try not to stray from that path, even if it means we allow it to
dictate how we live.
Kelly Chau
Kelly Chau is a lifelong learner based in Atlanta, GA. When she’s not working on a project, she finds joy in
spending
time with her loved ones, cooking, playing a sport, reading, or simply keeping busy by finding ways to improve her
thinking or learning something new. She hopes to be able to share stories that will inspire others to learn
self-expression and find ways to give back to the community with the little time she has on this earth.