I've long wanted to quit my job of seven years. But why stay if that's the case?
Well, it's cushy—really cushy. I barely do any actual work, and the work I do, I love. Teaching music in education is my passion. I get to choose my courses, there's almost no oversight, and I do what I want because nobody else here realistically cares about music.
Knowing that, I made it my duty to ensure at least students care. Even if it’s not a direct route to university, they should understand its value—confidence, creativity, teamwork. Many go into adjacent fields like film or music business. I’ve long accepted the system doesn’t care, but I still love my job, the pay, and the free time.
But there’s one thing that’s always eaten away at me.
Corruption
The way this school operates—and likely most private schools here—undermines everything I stand for. We always knew there was fraud, but we never had direct proof.
For example, students who never attended, or had a GPA of 0.2 (essentially a 2/100%), magically get accepted into top universities. A former student of ours failed high school five times—yes, he was 22—yet still graduated here despite no improvements. His parents knew the deal: pay the school, and graduation is guaranteed.
Recently, while browsing our grading platform, I stumbled upon a tab I’d never explored—Activity Log. It tracks all actions, including those by Admins.
What I found was damning.
Two students who hadn’t attended at all had F grades across all subjects. Then, suddenly, their grades were sneakily changed to 200%, then switched back to failing.
This is the paper trail of students buying top grades, submitting them to universities, and then having them reverted—assuming no one would notice.
It's not just my class. I checked other subjects—same process. It’s all a farce.
And it’s getting harder to look students in the eye and tell them that what they’re doing matters—because it doesn’t. And they know it doesn’t, otherwise, they’d at least show up.
Take two students who were supposedly on my roster but never once attended. I don’t even know what they look like. One had the audacity to ask for a recommendation letter. Sorry, who are you? Denied.
Yet, both got into top universities—something the school will proudly advertise as its success. Reality? They had their own private education and just paid the school to fabricate grades.
It’s an international racket. These students will fly off to the U.S., where universities are happy to take their money. Some will try, most won’t. Many will move into houses their wealthy parents bought them, do whatever they like, and return to China later—degree in hand or not.
For those who genuinely attempt university, they’ll be overwhelmed by the coursework, given their minimal English proficiency. Studying in a language they barely speak? Impossible.
They waste their entire youth on this scheme, and their future is already decided—return to China and work for their dad’s company, degree or not.
Honestly, there’s a tiny chance someone at work might read this. But like, 0.00000000000001%. Either way, I’m almost certainly quitting after this year. Maybe I’ll go out with a bang, maybe not.
I’m also considering contacting the universities these students were "accepted" into. They likely won’t care, but at least I’ll have done my part.
It’s hard to give up such a comfortable gig. Many would kill for a job where you do almost nothing, enjoy good pay, and have endless free time. I recognize that privilege.
But there’s only so long you can look in the mirror knowing everything you do is meaningless.
This job has given me a lot. It has given me the time to professionally develop, self-improve and more. I do exercise, I learn instruments, improve my craft, write blogs here on Hive, study Chinese (even had 1-hour classes twice a week in the past), play games, read books, and more - all on company time. It hasn't been a waste of my life by any stretch of the imagination. Many things I accomplish at work are things I no longer need to waste my time at home doing, freeing me up to be available for my wife.
But I’ve been married for a year now, and it’s fueled my desire to do greater things with the second half of my life.
Ripping this band-aid off is step one.
Disclaimer: Just for fun I shortened this using AI, just to see how effective it is, but it's basically my exact words, although I don't think it quite captured my spirit... it feels too... consistent? My emotions are erased somewhat. Not bad overall, though.