Is Playing or Studying More Beneficial For Us?

This is a really difficult question. Of course, who doesn't wish that there isn't any school to go to or mounds of homework to complete everyday? I rather play Nintendo any day of the week than learn about Newton's Third Law in school. However, deep down inside all of us, we know that at the end of the day, school is truly for our own good. The teachers are there not to work us to death but to nurture us into critical-thinking, mature individuals, ready to face society, from the childish, dependent students we are.

Take for example, the November/December holidays after the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) 2 years back. I was finally free from the hell the teachers put us through. I thought initially that it would be the 2 most glorious months of my life, after all the extra homework, lessons and tuition I've been through. I was all set to plop in front of the computer with a bag of crisps and a soda to catch up on all the agonizing hours I spent studying and revising instead of gaming. It was barely a week before I started to miss and pine for the good old schooldays. Though I was extremely stressed and under a lot of pressure then, at least I had work to do and had a proper aim in mind at that point. It was then I realized that a person must have a purpose in life. Only then would he would be motivated to achieve it and not drift aimlessly. A life without an aim is considered to be a life without any proper direction to it. Without any direction, a life will go astray. It simply wastes itself. How can you be happy if you don't achieve anything? Won't your life be totally useless and unfulfilling?

However, there is a need to play too. Working or studying might land us a job in the workforce in the future but as the saying goes, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." There is a need to strike a proper balance between work and play. If you work too much, you will feel bored too and unhappy. You need a little enjoyment now and then to be inspired to continue studying/working. On the other hand, too much playing just leads to no achievements and boredom.

In conclusion, I feel that both having fun and working are essential to happiness. In other words, we have to work hard and play hard to be happy.