A Cuban who emigrated to the United States has gone viral on TikTok after sharing a harsh critique of the education system on the island. In his video, posted by the user @gabrielalcantara1104, the Cuban claimed that “studying in Cuba is useless” and that the best decision of his life was “graduating as a rafters.”
"When I was about 15 years old, all my friends wanted to be engineers, doctors, or astronauts. I just wanted to be a raftsman," the young man recounted, reflecting on the years he spent living on the island.
The Cuban explained that many of his former schoolmates ended up with university degrees but are living in precarious conditions.
"After ten or fifteen years, I realized that all the engineers and doctors looked old in Cuba, toothless, wrinkled, without hope," he said.
According to his account, during his adolescence he faced several judicial proceedings on the island, until at the age of 19 he managed to emigrate to the United States, where he claims to have "succeeded" and found happiness.
"Why would I study in Cuba, if good surgeons have to raise a pig in the yard just to afford shoes?" she expressed.
The young man described education as pointless in a country where "money is worth nothing" and professionals live worse than those working in the informal economy. "The only school that is effective in Cuba is called the 'balsa' school," he said with a laugh.
In a reflective tone, he concluded his message by stating that true learning begins with common sense: "The first study starts here in the head. Not in books. With common sense and faith in oneself, one succeeds."
The video has generated mixed reactions on social media: while some users supported his words and congratulated him for overcoming challenges, others defended the value of education even in difficult circumstances.
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