Self Cultivation Essay

Since the summer of my senior year in high school, I was confused about the meaning of learning. What do I want to learn, and what could I do with my bachelor degree? So far, it has been two years. I still could not tell the answer to the first question, but, progressively, I know that I could do nothing with my bachelor degree and even with the higher degrees. On the other hand, the knowledge I learned so far is the thing I could rely. However, in some people’s points of view, this is unpractical. For such a long time, I have found few individuals sharing the similar ideas with me. Once, I saw a celebrity, who graduated from Tsinghua University, having a show online. He said that he was extremely disappointed when a college student, who also studies at Tsinghua University, ask him about whether he should take the examination of the public servant or not. From his point of view, as a part of Tsinghua University, one of the best universities in China, how could such a smart student is satisfied with basic needs, rather than cultivating himself. According to my experience, there are lots of people around me are pursuing material benefits. Self-cultivation, thus, is less important. In Analects, there is a word saying, 古之学者为己，今之学者为人. People in the ancient time are studying for

I am not sure about its exact definition. On the other hand, if someone will not always feel alone and indulge himself or herself in inexhaustible lust, I think there must be something worthy to be learned. In other words, when someone leaves the world, people would not pay more attentions to their material successes, but their lifelong pursuits. Throwing back to the past twenty years, I do not think there are many people around me have something different in their minds. Money is their first principle. From my point of view, money, undoubtedly, is the first thing had to be ensured for the first time. However, without money, what else do they have in their