Ocean Vuong

Our parents were so naive about education and professionalization because they were never a part of it.

So they thought it was a panacea.

They actually gave it more credence than it deserves.

That if it can just get you there, the there will take you.

It'll take care of itself.

And little did they know that there's nepotism, greed, payoffs, nefarious shenanigans.

And in a way, it was just another wasteland.

And that's been my experience.

You go up the mountain and then there's a plateau and then there's an award ceremony.

And then you look around and say, oh gosh, there's a lot of skeletons here.

It's just smoldering.

And then they said, whoa, no, no, there's another level right this way.

Keep on working.

And you get up that way.

Okay, maybe I'll see things differently from up there.

And you get up to that platform.

You say, oh my gosh, it's a graveyard.

There's bitterness, envy, jealousy, hatred, pettiness, everything.

I thought I was escaping down there.

It's still here, but even here, there's nowhere else to go.