It being the season of commencement speeches, I was thinking of what I will tell the graduating students if I were to give them a commencement speech. Now, I am not a world renowned personality yet but what I have to offer is the freshness of it all in my mind - of many a times in the past 3 years when I said to myself "I wish someone had told this to me earlier" And here I am, sharing my two cents for what its worth.
Class of 2013, as you step into the realm of unlimited opportunities to be whatever you want to be, consider the following tips. You can totally choose to ridicule these tips or choose to try them on and see what they do - the choice is yours
#1. Choice is yours - This is my number 1 tip. We build our destiny through a series of choices that we make every second and hence we need to be mature enough to bear the consequences of these choices. The days of blaming things on someone else or your circumstances are long gone. Now is the time to make those choices, sometimes even wrong ones and then man up to bear the consequences.
#2. Define what's important to you - With a lot of uncertainties surrounding us and an insatiable desire to prove ourself to probably ourselves more than anyone else, it is very easy to forget the very core of our existence - things that are important to us and that feed our soul. Take that time to build your spirituality even if it is just by listening to the music that connects you to the world.
#3. Your job is just that - When we start working, it is easy to get carried away and letting work overpower our lives. I am all for putting in those extra hours especially at the start but do not forget your well-being and relationships. Trust me, I have been there and when you are sick it is usually your loved ones who leave everything behind and spend sleepless nights in the hospital with you.
#4. Network - I am not suggesting selfish networking with the big shots to get glamorous jobs in their companies, or at least not only that. Get yourself out there, speak to people, understand whats going on in their lives and if possible, help people without asking for anything in return. Apart from adding into your good karma account, helping someone without asking for anything in return pays off in ways we can never understand. Just be careful that you are not being invasive or irritating - that can have almost the opposite effects. Volunteer to help people who have been abandoned and spread your love - it will make you feel happy and help in #2
#5. Follow your degree - Contradicting what most people will tell you about following your passion, I would suggest you to follow your degree, at least for a couple of years before closing that chapter forever. I did the former and though I am not complaining, I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be a computer engineer. Having spent a lot of money and 4 years of my life, I owed it to my degree. Universities often fail to depict what the real world is like and can put us off our subject forever. All I am asking is to give it a fair chance in the real world - you may never get that chance again. However, you can always pursue your passion and even go for higher studies for it.
In the end, Class of 2013, I want you to remember that being a good human being is much more important than being a successful one. So, whatever you do, just be a good human being and success will follow.
