Why Are Asians Obsessed with Grades?
culture·@holybranches·
0.000 HBDWhy Are Asians Obsessed with Grades?
 Yesterday, @traf dropped one of his usual [one liners](https://steemit.com/funny/@traf/growing-up-asian), this time, on how getting a B+ in math is seen as a cardinal sin against the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the eyes of Asian parents. For a race that regards what gives one bragging rights – in most cultures – as average because well, almost every oriental kid seems to be pulling it off, it is high time will take another look at this awesome people and try to find out what the underlying gist really is, because there is no way in hell a whole generation sees studying what Kepler thought of planetary bodies as more fun than playing GTA all night or binge-watching House of Cards all day. <h2>It has a Trace of History in China</h2> From the early Tang dynasty till its abolition in 1905, [Imperial Examinations]( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination) were used to select candidates worthy of being given a portfolio in the Chinese empire’s civil service. This meant that children of the poor had just about the same chance of scaling up their social status with those of the rich as long as they were open to burning their candle lights in cold oriental nights.  To make it more effective and ensured that the scalers kept their brains sharp, the exams were designed to be taken every four years which meant you had to keep studying or risk falling out of a high prestige social class. This idea of a stable traditional path to success must have been passed down through generations. It didn’t end there. The practice as expected did spread to other countries like Japan, Korea and Vietnam. <h2>Necessity is Part of the Spice</h2> Just like how the Jews used aggressive education to force their way out of the odds anti-Semite hatred placed on them and Italian southerners had to form mafias to survive the harsh realities their government failed to protect them from, Asians have over the years resorted to education as the only realistic route out of poverty and lack of job opportunities due to overpopulation.  Even as the later generations try to rebel and make you understand that the words “Chinese” and “artist” can exist together on a resume, the parents remain adamant, pushing their wards to be all the world can possibly offer. That is why finding Asian parents enrolling their kids into [programs for the gifted](https://brightthemag.com/why-are-so-many-white-and-asian-kids-sitting-in-gifted-ed-together-152f878353e9) is very common. These people, the parents, despite achieving a moderate rate of success, are spooked at how much better their lives would have turned out had they had the kind of opportunity American kids have by virtue of being born into God’s own country. Hence they push their kids to make maximum use of the opportunities spread across the world from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States to Oxford University, United Kingdom. <h2>Self Selection Bias is also at Play</h2> In our praise of highly intelligent bespectacled Asian nerds blazing academic trails from Stanford to Harvard and pretty much every cool school America has to offer, we often forget that these kids – especially the first generation – are either the best of the best in their home countries or are kids of parents whom they themselves were high flyers and now demanding a replica.  Alas, it is really not fair to use the best of the best of country A to judge the averages of country B. Pitting the best America has to offer against smart oriental immigrants will give us a better clue as to if the successes recorded over the years were a result of nature or nurture. Not only do these smart immigrants make it past the convoluted maze of the almighty US visa, they also come in with a point to prove and with the mindset that they have to beat indigenes by some gap in order to have a shot at rising all the way to the apex of US’s societal strata. So they read, jack, study or are made to by their demanding parents and at the end of the day, collectively give birth to a tag that the best brains come from the East. Any non-exceptional Asian is seen as a disgrace to his people even if the said person maybe far better than us. We have selected them and chose to view them with the highest of standards the world has to offer and blind ourselves into believing that there is more to it than hard work. <h2>Conclusion</h2> In Nigeria, elders say that it is condition that gave the crayfish its bent anatomy. Like the sea animals, Asians were subjected to a little more extreme conditions than the rest of the world and so, had to improvise a means to survive no matter what language existential odds spoke. And as a result, the crucible which they went through in order to survive, forever changed their approach to life. The 21st century now lays witness to the results of the decisions they took a while back. Despite constituting [4% of immigrants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Asian_Americans) in America, they have the [highest representation](https://blog.collegevine.com/the-demographics-of-the-ivy-league/) in Ivy league schools than Blacks and Hispanics. The results have been astonishing and it has seen them shoot up through numerous career ladders. It is no wonder that Asian parents will do everything possible to see that their kids followed this same route of assured success while those who were not fortunate enough to have tasted it will push their kids to become the doctor or engineer they couldn’t be. And hell do you need good grades for those!  <center>Refs: [1](https://steemit.com/funny/@traf/growing-up-asian) [2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination) [3](https://brightthemag.com/why-are-so-many-white-and-asian-kids-sitting-in-gifted-ed-together-152f878353e9) [4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Asian_Americans) [5](https://blog.collegevine.com/the-demographics-of-the-ivy-league/)</center> <center>All Images were sourced from pixabay.com</center> <center><h2>@holybranches</h2></center>
👍 resteemy, adejoke16, olawalium, atikajayboy, agbona, kekegist, yhubie, onequality, ausbitbank, sammyutd, stach, goode, tolarnee, rogerman, lumen77, pasaift, kisom1, fikards, estrellamag, caesar2341, rijal8466, eddieboo, waku, jeffiyaro, istar19, valarmorg, jacintoelbarouki, wawan.anestesi, maanabdullah, eurogee, thecentrestage, shellyduncan, candyman, talivet, estherikott, lordkingpotato, take5,