When a person advances, he leaves his current position and moves to better position. For example, a first year college student advances to second year. Each year students advance to the next grade by acquiring certain knowledge and passing exams. The same thing also happens in the industry. Workers advance from entry level to more experience level, a novice advances to a professional etc.
There are two ways of advancement: the right way and the wrong way. The right way is based on personal efforts, by learning and acquiring knowledge. The wrong way is using unethical means such as cheating or lying to achieve something. A student who cheats on exam can advance to the next class but he is also cheating himself. It is possible for a student to continue cheating then graduate with a degree, get a job but this is where everything ends. The fact is without knowledge and skills; he cannot compete with other workers. When others advance to their next positions, the cheating worker may not be able to keep his job. Without skills to work, he may get fired then all his life, he continues to move from one temporary job to another or being unemployed. By that time even he realize his mistake, it is too late. In life, the only thing you can depend on is your skill as it belongs to you. Job can come and goes, money can come and goes, materials can come and goes but what you learned, what you know is part of you that no one can take it away.
Current education system is still based on competition but some students confuse competition with power. When they are in school they use power to intimidate others to prove that they are better. There is more violence in school today than in the past. Some students try to prove that they are better by using their muscles to push others down. This is the wrong way to compete. Any means to push other down is an “illusion” of being better but in fact it only shows that they are weaker inside. No one can advance by pushing others down; instead advancement is based on cooperation and collaboration. Today, most works require teamwork, not individual works. In teamwork there is no individual hero but everybody must work together. This will require new thinking, new way of working and new way of learning. The best way to advance is to develop better personality with compassion and integrity. A lot of people believe that intelligent is the key factor for advancement but it is wrong because it is the personality that makes the difference. People with compassion often advance higher based on their achievement. They do not promote themselves; they help others and move up together. They appreciate teamwork, they understand cooperation. It is their humble personalities that make other appreciate them and recognize them and that is why they advance much further in their careers. Personality is not intelligent, it is not something that you are born with but it is the responsibilities and understanding that you develop in life.
Today, there are many people go through life without direction, never realizing their potential, or be responsible for anything. They just move from one position to another, from one job to another. As a college student, you are taking important steps to develop your responsibilities and understanding so you can do something for your future. You are responsible for yourself, for your family, and for your country. It is important for you to realize these possibilities and the choices in front of you. Instead of wandering from class to class, from boring job to another boring job and living an unfulfilled life, you can determine your future and does what you love by set your career goals clearly. A college education can help you get into a career that you want such as being a scientist, an engineer, a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a computer specialist, a businessman or whatever you choose. The choice is yours, and it is important for you to realize that.
Of course, college education is not easy. A college career requires many years of hard work, and you cannot be successful without commitment and sacrifice. People get good jobs because of how well they have worked and how much efforts they put in during college. Any college graduates can tell you that there are times when they do not think they can do it. There is time that they feel frustrated, worried and doubt their ability to succeed. However with determination, commitment most would overcome their fears and complete their education. There is time when a course seemed too hard, when the work seemed too much, and you may feel overwhelming but if you decide that you are going to give it your best effort than I am sure you will overcome these difficulties. A college is a preparation for something bigger in life. If you cannot overcome these difficulties in college, how could you deal with much more difficulties in life? How could you advance in your career? How could you help your company? How could you make your parents proud? How could you contribute something to your society?
One major issue with college students is not to plan their time accordingly. Some students spend too much time with friends or go to parties every weekend without adequate time to study then blame that school is too hard. The general rule is that you should expect to spend a minimum of two hours study for every hour that you spend in class. So imagine that you are taking 4 classes or 20 hours per week then you will need at least 40 hours to study by yourself. You probably need five hours a week to prepare for class and doing homeworks too. That is 45 hours a week as a minimum amount of time you need to devote to your classes. That is not counting the time that you study in team with your friends. I often advise students to spend about 60 hours per week to study, and few hours on physical exercise and sports to keep a balance between mind and body.
Occasionally a student would complain: “That is too much, where do I spend time with my girlfriends or boyfriends?” My answer is: “You go to college to study, to be educated and to advance in your career. You do not go to college to spend time with boyfriends or girlfriends. Do not set yourself up to fail. Realize that a successful college takes a lot of time, probably a lot more time than you imagine. Give yourself a reasonable time to study and keep you healthy, everything else can wait if you really want to success. No “intelligent” boyfriend or girlfriend would want you to fail college if they really care for you. The fact is I am not sure if you still have boyfriend or girlfriend when you fail college and have to stay home with your parents and remain an uneducated person with no future.”
You have about four years to prepare for your future. The time is short but this is the most challenging time of your life as you are learning and developing your personality, your knowledge and skills. This is the time to prepare to be a professional, a better person, and good children to your parents and a good citizen to your country. As you advancing in your career there are many things that you can do but everything would depend on how well you are doing in college. Do not waste this precious time.
Prof John Vu
Carnegie Mellon University
Original source: http://johnvublog.com/?p=379
0 comments:
Post a Comment