INTEGRITY (Ah Mon)

Integrity

Integrity is the quality that everyone should possess. The term refers to the ability of being honest, true, concerned about one's own diginity and being able to live according to one's own values. In other words, it is the capacity of possessing constant state of mind which is unaffected whether in the public or alone. It affects our lives profoundly in many aspects of our lives. For example, in workplace, doing the work that you have to do whether or not the head is present or not is an integrity. Also in relationships, keeping faith and being honest upon one's mate or partner not only with him or her but also behind him or her shows the quality of integrity. Morrover, integrity is being able to live the way you are which is more courageous than treating people by not showing your true self. We are not born with it or without it and it is the quality we can cultivate over time. So, it is vital for all of us to possess integrity if we wish to survive confidently and bravely.

Aye Myat Mon

City or Countryside (Ah Mon)

City or Countryside

It is already known that there are many differences between a city and a countryside. Although each has its own values and benefits to live in , I prefer a city to a countryside. It is undeniable that most people in the city are always swarming and alive as if they have hunger for something which in turn motivates me to a great extent. Moreover, the city is full of opportunities to grasp like various courses for computer, management or English, loads of sophisticated things and access to the latest technologies and events in the world. Also, alternative forms of transportations are available and high living standards are maintained. People who are very easy to content themselves might not like living in a city. The main difference between a city and a countryside is the lifestyles of the people, the former one is presented with a competitive lifestyle and the latter one is with the quiet lifestyle. However, I think it does not matter at all where you live, all it matters is how much you are empowering the people around you and serving for your country as much as you can. 

Ah Mon

If I were a headmistress (Ah Mon)

If I were a headmistress

If I were a headmistress, I would not follow the rules of authoritarian leadership except in some cases that I really must do. During meetings, I would ask for all the teachers' advices and make decisions based on those. Equal and fair delegation of duties and responsibilities would also be done to teachers. Also, I would go and check every classroom as much as I can to make sure that every teacher cares for and gives attention to his or her students. There would be praise and prizes for teachers who work hard and who teach by using various teaching methods. In addition, school environment would  be taken care and clean and pleasant compound would also be created. Moreover, I would try to be respected by students, teachers and parents but I would make sure that respect would come from the ethics and personality I possess, rather than coming from their fear. As only good leader can bring good followers, I would try to be a good leader not just by words but by actions if I were a headmistress.

Aye Myat Mon

Extracurricular activities are essential (Ah Mon)

Extracurricular Activities are Essential

Extracurricular activities are undertaken outside the regular course of study. These activities can be divided into indoor and outdoor activities. Indoor activities include music and dance, art and craft, drawing and painting, tailoring and so on. Outdoor ones comprise football, volleyball, basketball, excursions and so forth. While some schools and universities are trying to serve these activities to students, some do not pay attention to these ones. Reasons for this difference are depending on the benefits and setbacks resulting from theses activities.
An argument in favour of extracurricular activities is that they can arouse the motivation and enthusiasm of students. Only learning the academic subjects can bring boredom and can make children to become less motivated. Learners without being given the chance to take part in extracurricular activities become dimmed in their qualities and feelings towards learning. Mostly young learners need as much extracurricular activities as possible. Because young learners can be molded through extracurricular activities to become curious, to love and appreciate the nature, to develop the ability to observe and to think creatively. At university level, debate and discussions, academic teams and clubs, culture clubs, volunteer work and community service and etc. are carrying out as more advanced extracurricular activities and bringing positive results on students like becoming more active, enthusiasted, creative and confident learners. Apart from this, extracurricular activities widen the views of learners and give them chances to apply their knowledge. To a great extent, the theoretical knowledge gets strengthened when a relevent extracurricular activity is organized related to the content taught in the classroom. Furthermore, these activities encourage learners to find out what their hobbies and interests are and to develop their characters, social skills, coordination, speech fluency, aesthetics and moral values. 
On the other hand, an argument against extracurricular activities is that they make the educators busy. It is not an easy job to carry out these activities with careful and skillful planning. For instance, during excursions, teachers always need to keep their eyes on the children not to get lost or not to let something bad happen. They also have to prepare a lot before excursions like hiring cars, preparing for foods and managing of money. Besides, extracurricular activities reduce the amount of time on learning academic subjects. In some cases, teachers groan concerning with the extracurricular activities for delaying to finish the curriculum in time. Moreover, over use of extracurricular activities discourage the interest of students on academic subjects. 
To take everything into account, the mixture of pluses and minuses are included in extracurricular activities. However, the benefits of extracurricular activities outweigh the drawbacks. I think every school and university should set aside time for extracurricular activities and ensure that these activities are operated in moderation because excessive or insufficient use of them can cause side effects. Therefore, it is to be considered that extracurricular activities are the essential tools for bringing the best out of the learners and supporting all round development of the learners.

Ah Mon

All Work and No Play Makes A Dull Life (Htet Zaw Htoo)

All work and no play makes a dull life

How would you feel if you eat the same meal every day or if you listen to the same song repeatedly? There is totally no doubt that everything becomes boring if it continuously happens or is done without any change. Similarly, when the same work is done all the time, life becomes a dull one, which is neither challenging nor happy. Therefore, play is also necessary for people in addition to work which they have to do to fulfill their basic needs; food, clothes and shelter.

The more work people feel loaded with, the more tension and worries they have got. Like an engine found in a machine, it becomes hotter when it is used continuously for a long time. Then, it will stop working finally. Likewise, people are living things who are made up of blood, flesh, cells, tissues etc. As a result, their bodies become tired or exhausted when they work for a long time. To give their bodies a rest, people go to bed and sleep. However, people are not like robots, so it needs to put their mind at rest. Through play which is done for amusement rather than work, worries, anxiety and tension they have become less serious because they have got a chance to do what they love to do as a change. After that play, they can work and solve the problems more successfully than ever before because their minds are clear and fresh. In the same way, students had better not study without a pause for a long time. The longer they study,  the less their brains work. When their brains get tired, their studying is not totally effective. Therefore, they have to give rest not only to their body but also to their mind. Throwing themselves down onto the bed and listening to music is a good kind of play they should do. In addition, traveling together with family of friends is also a good kind of play that all people should do.

In conclusion, the most important thing to get a work done is the fresh mind and body. It is not how long somebody works, but the concentration that counts. Any good concentration cannot be got if they work all the time without any play. The work they do becomes a dull one because they feel bored with it as it lasts longer. Eventually, their life itself becomes a dull one, which is not challenging and fascinating anymore. All work and no play just makes a dull life.

Htet Zaw Htoo 

Money cannot buy true friends (HZH)

Money cannot buy true friends

            When it comes to money, most of the people have optimistic thoughts. Money is regarded as one of the most important things. A saying goes that money is the second god. It is, however, doubtful that money is powerful enough to name 'a second god'. Especially, in the case of true friends, it is interesting to wonder if money can make true friends or not.

              First of all, it argues for the idea that money cannot buy true friends because a friend in need is a friend indeed. There are many fair-weather friends, who stay close to us and befriend us only when have money. A true friend always stands with us even when we are poor as a church mouse. There is a famous story in Buddhism regarding fake friends. There once lived a boy who was born a silver spoon in his mouth. His well-to-do parents did not educate him because they thought that he could live without any worry about money till his last breath. When both of his parents passed away, he did not manage to do anything well and spent money like water with his friends. Finally, he lost all his property. His fake friends left him alone and finally he became a beggar. To make a long story short, he died of hunger alone in the forest. Therefore, it is clearly obvious that money cannot buy true friends.

           The argument in favor against the idea that money cannot buy true friends is that money is the resource of anything to be done and friend is not an exception. It is blindingly obvious that money can solve most of the problems and create opportunities too. Likewise, we can get many friends out of money. Among them, we can wisely choose who are really true friends. Without money, a person is less likely to find friends and thus finding true friends is less possible than a person with money.

          Taking everything into account, there is no doubt that money cannot buy true friends. However, it does not totally mean that we do not need to find money to get friends. Money, at its best value, is a good servant. As a result, the more money we have, the more friends it can create. All in all, I think that what we should do best is to decide wisely ourselves which friend is true or which one is fake.

Htet Zaw Htoo

Are Parents Best Teachers?

Are Parents Best Teachers?

Obviously, the first teachers we have in our lives in most cases are our parents. They teach us to walk, to speak, and to have good manners before we reach "the real world. " More than even the professional teachers that we have at school, parents are generally the most involved in the development and education of children.

Almost for sure our parents are the best teachers at the beginning of our lives, which actually corresponds to the parents' role in nature. Parents are most committed and involved in teaching their children; they have a kind of instinct to sacrifice a part of themselves for the betterment of their children. They love us and have great patience while passing down their knowledge to us. They wish us a success and thus will not teach us bad things. And of course, implicit learning occurs when children unconsciously copy some of their parents' habits and styles of behavior.

During the second stage of child development, adolescence, parents can still be in the best position to offer advice even though the children might not accept it. In this case, perhaps the child's friends would be the best teachers. Adolescents are notoriously rebellious in many cultures and may automatically reject any advice from their parents. My first marriage for instance, was solely a matter of doing the opposite when my parents tried to intrude in offering their advice. So in such matters, parents should be much more flexible and be rather the partners with their children. So we can see that being a teacher of growing child become more and more complicated case as the time passes and many parents are simply not able to meet the increased demands.

On the other hand, I would say that parents are not professional teachers and they tend to be very biased by their love of their children. So wishing good things and an easy life may prevent children from maturation. In any case, parents usually can present only one viewpoint of the world, while good teaching should be based on different attitudes. Thus, when children go to school and have a great diversity of teachers, they learn much more than their parents could probably give them. Furthermore, once our parents get older, they become more conservative and cannot always be objective in regard to modern trends and fashions. Thus we need to take their advice with caution during that period. However, some kind of intuition that I believe shared between relatives about what everybody needs and great love that exists in families still makes our parents very good teachers and advisers at any time.

In conclusion, while parents are not the ideal teachers, and well-rounded children will generally need a great diversity of teachers in their lives in order to have a more accurate view of the world, parents are generally the most committed of all teachers and have the greatest emotional investment in their children and their future.