YGS REALITY PART 1: INTEGRITY BETWEEN FAMILY AND STUDENT

There’s a quarter of the way to the YGS exam.

To talk about our children’s success in life, we must first talk about a healthy society. A healthy society means a society composed of “healthy individuals,” including their families and teachers.

A healthy individual is someone who can love unconditionally and without worry, who has a conscious awareness of life – knowing what they want and why they want it – and who lives purposefully and self-aware within their own reality.

Is the new generation truly integrated with its own purpose, its family, and its teachers? Where is the “individual” when studying, going to school, or even breathing? Or is that individual not actually an “individual,” but merely a student?

It’s a sad but true reality; unfortunately, we have billions of students. Unlike developed societies, we don’t have “individuals” who are truly unique.

In recent months, through my awareness campaigns with families, teachers, and students, and in conversations with friends, I’ve observed something. In our eyes, our children are just students, not individuals. How so?

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to meet and chat with a bright, intelligent young woman at a charming tea house in Balmumcu. We had organized this meeting a few days earlier with her father, who places great importance on his daughter’s self-awareness. Seeing the immense love and value a father with such awareness has for his only daughter, within the framework of the law of identification that builds true trust in life, both delighted and saddened me. Because millions of students lacked “love and awareness,” considered the greatest assets for a person to become an “individual” in life.

This was a very important appointment for me, an exciting encounter. I had come to the appointment knowing that this young woman wanted to study psychology and gain knowledge in the field. We met. After a brief conversation, I asked her why she wanted to study psychology and if she had a specific reason for choosing this field. She replied, “I don’t have a specific reason, Professor Uğur; our teacher at school simply recommended this department.” To avoid misinterpreting this answer, and to understand it correctly, I analyzed myself from A to Z several times in seconds. The result remained the same. The truth was: the person who recommended and gave this idea to the young woman was an educator. However, that same educator hadn’t instilled in her a “purpose full of awareness.” They hadn’t explained why she should study psychology – what exactly psychology represents and what added value it could bring her.

I had a delightful two-hour conversation with my young, dear friend. During this time, I explained to her the areas of interest in psychology and how, as a scientist, she could bring consciousness and awareness to life, to people, and to society. We explored psychology through real-life stories. We interpreted the topics together, considering their entirety. Because she was both a very good listener and a very good analyst. Like a true scientist. All her attention and focus was on me. In other words, she was present where she was. She was unique and unparalleled in her own reality and integrity. She had come to that meeting to discover herself and to get to know psychology a little more closely, to share and exchange ideas. Her short-term memory worked so quickly that she could make accurate diagnoses of the cases I described – even before the topic was finished. We were essentially having a consultation. My young friend, though unaware of it before the meeting, began to discover the great talents she possessed after our two-hour conversation. Thanks to her father, she took a big and important step in her own life.

In this conversation, we discussed teachers, employees, employers, workplaces, and the family-student relationship within the education system, all of whom are confused and unsure about their chosen professions. I’m sure my young friend will achieve a very successful grade on this exam with great self-confidence. Above all else, they will “honor their own self-awareness.”

I want to address all our esteemed teachers here and give them an important message. Every person is born with magnificent potential and clings to life with it. After their families, you are the greatest guides for your students on their path to becoming “individuals.”

Please live your life with this awareness and personal integrity. Your mission is not only critical but may also be fate-determining.

Uğur Uğural