Chapter 28: Club Education
Not finding a club she liked on the list, Classmate Xiang Chuan had no choice but to call the homeroom teacher over. Zhu Bingwen immediately recognized her as the apparent culprit behind the “Collective Sneaking Snacks” incident, curious about what she wanted this time, so he moved closer.
“Teacher, do all students have to join a club? Is it not possible to not join?”
Classmate Xiang Chuan asked.
“As I just said, club education is part of our high school curriculum. If you don’t join a club, then half of the educational content you’ll participate in during high school will be missing.”
“But isn’t school for attending classes? Why do we have to start joining clubs now?”
Classmate Xiang Chuan voiced the biggest doubt in her heart.
“High school, as the intermediate zone between traditional education and university education, must consciously help everyone develop their own talents in order to better adapt to the ‘learning paths centered on interests and talents or future aspirations’ in university.”
As Zhu Bingwen spoke, he noticed that the surrounding students had turned their heads to listen at some point, so he walked toward the podium while continuing to speak.
“Around Tianyuan 6000, sociologists researched and found that nearly six out of ten high school graduates were confused about their choice of major for university studies. Many students, for the sake of employment convenience, chose some popular majors at the time, but as a result, because the chosen major contradicted their interests, plus the saturation of the job market, a considerable portion of students fell into anxiety.”
“At that time, the Second Fleet’s fleet commander Cynthia Butuo proposed a curriculum reform path to cultivate high school youths’ interests and talents. They selected 10 students from each income class in the Second Fleet who had similar interests or talents to form classes, reducing the proportion of course education and adding exchange activities for interests and talents groups, which is the prototype of today’s club education.”
“Teacher.” Ouyang Yating raised her hand, and Zhu Bingwen signaled her to speak. “Won’t this cause a lot of controversy? As far as I know, the difficulty of entrance examination questions is adjusted according to the proportion of difficulty in students’ daily studies. If that batch of students reduces their study time, won’t they fall behind the exam difficulty?”
“Classmate Ouyang Yating knows quite a lot.” Zhu Bingwen smiled; teachers always like smart students. “Because it was an experimental class, the Second Fleet also provided some conveniences at the time, namely that no matter what the academic exam scores of these 30 children were, they could enter the designated university.”
Classmate Xiang Chuan suddenly understood: I get it, it’s guaranteed admission.
“And then? And then?” The classmates urged the teacher to continue.
Zhu Bingwen smiled: “The result afterward was naturally a success. Those 30 children ultimately chose both popular and niche majors, including some elites from various fields, and some even became high-level political figures. Everyone knows the Twelfth Fleet’s Romeo and Juliet, right?”
“Yes!” “My mother loves it!” “I saw the live touring performance last time!” The students’ responses rose one after another.
“The Twelfth Fleet excavated the remnant copy of Romeo and Juliet from information turbulence in Tianyuan 5000, but it was actually adapted into a live performance in 6100.”
“I know this one!” The female classmate who had just come to find Classmate Xiang Chuan with her live stream room excitedly raised her hand. “It was adapted by Siqin Kabon, right!”
“Correct, the kids in our class are quite knowledgeable.”
Zhu Bingwen laughed.
“My mother loves Romeo and Juliet so much; I hear it at home every day until my ears grow calluses.” The girl, praised, smiled a bit embarrassedly. “Could it be that Siqin Kabon is…?”
“Yes, Siqin Kabon was one of the students in that Twelfth Fleet education reform experimental class. She loved ancient culture from a young age, so she always had an interest in adapting ancient texts. Because of her achievement in adapting Romeo and Juliet, she entered the Twelfth Fleet’s Cultural Affairs Bureau and eventually became the deputy director, devoting her life to developing the Twelfth Fleet’s art and culture.”
“Of course, some experimental class graduates ultimately achieved success in fields different from their initially chosen interests and talents groups, but the exchanges with peers who shared the same hobbies taught them efficient ways of cooperation and methods for handling things. Even if their later interests shifted to other areas, with the experience from high school, they could quickly develop.”
By the end of his lecture, Zhu Bingwen’s throat was a bit dry. He took out his water bottle to moisten it, then looked up to find the students all staring at him with wide eyes. Zhu Bingwen snapped back to reality: Wait, isn’t this supposed to be about discussing students’ club plans? How did it turn into a history class?
“Ahem.” Zhu Bingwen fake-coughed to ease his slight embarrassment. “Alright, now that you know the origins of our club education, do you have a new understanding of club activities? So let’s continue…”
“Teacher!”
Another familiar interruption. Zhu Bingwen looked closely—it was that “sneaking snacks ringleader” again. This kid has so many questions? he grumbled inwardly, but smiled on the surface and let her continue.
“What if we can’t find a club we like in three days? Can we join the Student Union to do activities instead of a club?”
Normally, there wouldn’t be such a situation!
Zhu Bingwen couldn’t help complaining inwardly. Especially seeing some students stirring upon hearing this.
Demeter University Affiliated High School is the third-ranked high school in the Third Fleet’s “Demeter” history after Agricultural University Affiliated High School. Since the education system reform, it has established hundreds of clubs, with two twenty-story buildings dedicated to club activities and teaching. The types of clubs fully cover all majors from universities in the Third Fleet led by Demeter University. This is also why Demeter University Affiliated High School’s further education rate has always remained high in the Third Fleet.
What club could possibly not satisfy them?
“No high school would agree to let Student Union activities replace club activities. All Student Union members conduct club activities while doing Student Union work. They can get at most some extra points for further education. If they can’t manage the three-line parallel of studies, Student Union, and clubs, then give up on that idea.”
Zhu Bingwen ruthlessly rejected the idea from Classmate Xiang Chuan and all the other restless students. Seeing Classmate Xiang Chuan’s expectant little expression turn into rubbing her temples and frowning, Zhu Bingwen finally couldn’t help asking: “Miss… Classmate Xiang Chuan, what kind of club are you trying to join?”
“Hm? Uh… a cooking club, ah, best if it’s one researching ancient food.”
This answer made even Zhu Bingwen’s face twitch uncontrollably.
Research on ancient culture is already a niche among niches in the modern era due to the scarcity of surviving documents. University graduates end up just idling at the History Research Institute, making it the major with the least contribution to material and spiritual civilization.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have any clubs related to ancient culture here. Incidentally, the universities in the Third Fleet don’t have related majors either. If you insist on pursuing ancient culture research, for further education, consider the Eleventh Fleet or Twelfth Fleet. We just mentioned the Twelfth Fleet, so no need to repeat. The Eleventh Fleet has the deepest research on information turbulence, and it’s also the center for ancient culture studies.”
Go to another place for university?
Classmate Xiang Chuan frowned. In her previous life, from junior high to university, she had always studied at places at least twenty kilometers from home. University was even in the northeast, and work was in the neighboring province. This life, with money and power at home, she could lie flat. Go to another fleet light-years away for university? No way!
Got too carried away writing the setting again…
These two days of double updates are really taxing my brain cells. Yesterday I rewatched Ball 2 to recharge, and I have to say an excellent sci-fi movie indeed brings a lot of inspiration to me while writing future SF background material. Though that one is too tragic; ours should be lighter.
