THE COUNTRY’S educational system may imbue one all the necessary technical knowledge and competence for one’s chosen field, but knowledge can only get you so far as there are other major factors that influence one’s success: Connections, morals, and health.
It is through connections that we get referrals to 85 percent of unadvertised jobs and projects, and depending on our performance and likability, we can build a steady clientele and be referred by our previous clients or employers if we did well.
In fact, Nobel Prize laureate and psychologist Daniel Kahneman found that people would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than with someone they don’t, even if the likeable person offers a product of lower quality or renders a service with a higher fee.
On the other hand, a moral person is sure to be successful without marring his reputation. Honesty, integrity, and credibility go hand-in-hand, which should gain him trust from his superiors and colleagues. This means bigger opportunity for such a person to hold higher positions in companies or organizations.
Finally, a sound mind and body will ensure that one has the capacity to efficiently carry out tasks given to him without succumbing to stress or diseases.
Sadly, these aspects are greatly downplayed and are not given enough priority in most curricula, as existing educational paradigms merely focus on gauging one’s scholastic intelligence.
I think it’s about time that formal education take on a more holistic approach to learning. At the end of the day, education exists not to make intelligent people, but to produce efficient citizens that would ultimately contribute to nation building.
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And now, it has come to this.
Three years ago, I was privileged enough to be selected to work for the best student publication in the country. However, due to unforeseen commitments in other organizations, I reluctantly quit.
Such a drawback didn’t hinder me from joining the Varsitarian once more, and it was perhaps a stroke of luck that I was once again given second chance to be a staffer after passing the stringent set of exams.
However, the Varsitarian was akin to a jealous girlfriend who required most of my time, and a demanding client who would always expect professional output and would not accept any excuses for not doing so. Little did I know that writing for the publication was just the tip of the iceberg—it also trained me as a personal assistant, courier, accountant, janitor, event’s organizer, public relations officer, and a guidance counselor. Amid these qualms, it was, and will always be, the best decision I’ve made in my college years.
Looking back at all the things that have transpired in my two-year stint in the publication, I would have to say that the Varsitarian will be a hard habit to break. I considered the office as my second home, the advisers as my second parents, and the staffers as my siblings. Our advisers told us that parting with the Varsitarian will entail withdrawal pains, but the gravity of workload even during the summer provides a panacea that makes me forget that in less than a month, I would be leaving the institution, which made me learn a lot of things that ordinary schooling was not able to teach, and for that I am thankful.
Quoting Theodor Seuss Geissel (Dr. Seuss), “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
