IS “SILENCE” REALLY “GOLDEN”?
Have you ever thought that “silence is golden” will help you avoid trouble at school?
1. Silence and your costly mistakes
I used to think so. In my first year of Medicine, I seriously pursued the philosophy of “a healthy start and a good ending” seriously.
Come to class on time, listen diligently, do all your homework, and don’t cause any trouble. Every day passed peacefully, I thought I was doing the right thing.
Until one fateful afternoon. I opened the semester’s evaluation report card. The last line reads: “Students show no interest in the major and lack enthusiasm for learning.”
2. So what should we do correctly?
I read it over and over again, not believing my eyes. Not interested? Lack of enthusiasm? But did I go to school all the time? Did you listen to the lecture diligently?
“Can I hear an explanation of why you rated it like that?” – I asked the teacher with a trembling voice.
The doctor looked at me: “I haven’t seen you ask any questions lately. I haven’t seen you volunteer to do anything. When I asked, you only answered right or wrong, without any further comments. How do I know if you really want to study this specialty?”
I stood there like a statue. In my head I just thought: “But I studied carefully… I just don’t want to bother the teacher…”
That evening, I approached Ms. Linh – a third-year medical student that I knew. After listening to the story, she smiled softly: “You know, our Asian habit of ‘silence is golden’, here it becomes ‘silence is… invisible’.”
She explained: “Teachers here evaluate students through interaction. You don’t talk, you don’t ask, how can I know how much you understand? Do you really care? Do you have deductive thinking or not?”
“But I’m afraid of asking random questions, you’ll feel stupid…” – I confessed.
“What about now that you think I don’t care? Which is worse?”
That question was like a slap in the face.
From the next week, I decided to change 180 degrees:
- Instead of waiting to be called, I proactively raised my hand: “Teacher, can I present this case?”
- Instead of just answering right or wrong, I added: “I think it might be X, but I’m also wondering about Y, can you explain more?”
- Instead of waiting for the end rotation, I ask for feedback in the middle: “Can you tell me what I need to change to be able to do better?”
- Instead of being silent when the teacher asks “any questions”, I prepare 2-3 questions.
At first, I was shaking like a mouse. But gradually, I realized the truth: Teachers don’t judge me because I asked, but because I DON’T ask.
From then on, my assessment results completely changed.
“Students are enthusiastic, proactive in learning, and try hard.”
Same person, same knowledge, but different ways of expressing it created completely different results.
From then on, I understood the saying “Perception is reality” which roughly translates as “Perception is reality”
The way I express myself affects the way teachers see me.
Indeed – in the eyes of teachers,
Passivity is not humility – it is invisibility. In an academic environment, especially in medicine, teachers need to see students’ interest, curiosity, and initiative. Teachers cannot read your mind. They can only judge by what they see and hear.
And “No one said anything” doesn’t mean “it’s okay” – it means you’re too weak in the teacher’s eyes.
That’s why,
If you are in school, especially in fields that require high interaction such as medicine, pharmacy, or even business… remember:
Don’t let passivity make you invisible, because sometimes, Being seen is just as important as being smart! (Being seen is just as important as being smart.)
Please comment “yes” if the article is useful to you.
If you want to receive emails updating information and new articles from me, please sign up to receive emails from me here.
Dr. Christina Nguyen
Phoenix Medical Academy
