SECTION B
Essay
125 marks
It is best to see life as a journey, not as a destination.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The topic urges valuing the process of living, its learning, relationships and growth, over fixation on final goals. Destinations like a job, rank or wealth are temporary, and reaching them often brings emptiness if the journey was joyless. The examiner expects a balanced essay that values goals but locates meaning in how we pursue them.
ThesisLife gains meaning from the way we travel rather than the point we reach, so goals should guide the journey without swallowing it.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Individual: students who see education only as a route to a rank often suffer stress and lose love of learning
- 2Philosophy: classical ethics sees the good life as a continuing activity of virtue, not a prize collected at the end
- 3Economy: firms chasing quarterly targets at any cost may damage the long-term journey of trust and innovation
- 4Development: nations pursuing growth targets alone can neglect equity and environment, which are part of the journey
- 5Ethics: a journey-focused view keeps means honest, because an unworthy path corrupts even a worthy destination
- 6Balance: without destinations, a journey can become aimless, so goals still matter as direction
Counter-view
- Critics say goals give life focus and that without destinations people drift. The essay should accept that goals are necessary, and argue that the point is to let destinations give direction while finding meaning and ethics in the journey itself
Open and close
- Open: Open with two climbers on the summit of Everest in 1953 spending barely a quarter of an hour at the top after weeks of struggle to get there
- Close: Conclude that when the journey is lived well, every destination becomes a milestone rather than a finish line
Where marks usually go
- Rejecting goals altogether, which makes the essay unrealistic for a career-focused reader
- Writing a travelogue or a narrow essay on the coaching industry
- Repeating 'enjoy the process' without philosophical depth or evidence
Examples that fit
- LiteratureCavafy's 'Ithaka' advises the traveller to pray that the road is long, since Ithaka gave the journey and has nothing more to give.Ithaka (1911), C. P. Cavafy
- ThinkerAristotle defined happiness, or eudaimonia, as an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue over a complete life, not a final state reached.Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle
- CurrentConcern over stress among coaching students led the Ministry of Education to issue guidelines in 2024 on minimum age, counselling and fair practices in coaching centres.Guidelines for Registration and Regulation of Coaching Centres 2024, Ministry of Education
- HistoryTenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit of Everest in 1953 and stayed only minutes; the expedition's years of preparation and teamwork were the real story.The Ascent of Everest (1953), John Hunt