When you are ten years old, you often hear the question: "What is your dream?"
"My dream is to become an astronaut." - I feel familiar with this answer.
When you were in your last year of high school, you either knew or had no clue what you wanted to apply for university. Then, you turned over to your best friends and asked what they applied to. Somehow, you both ended up in the same classes in the first year of the university, and you were so hyped for it just to realize that you will be parted from your buddies at some point.
And all of sudden, four years go by and you realize: "Wow, I am graduating this year." If you are about to complete your first university degree, congratulations! Now the next question is: "What's coming next?" If I get to describe life, I guess it's like riding a roller coaster with all the ups and downs. And within those ups and downs, graduation marks an important point of uncertainty. Why is it uncertain? Simply because many of us don't know what happens next, whether you want to keep studying or you will land your first job or you might have to move to a different city.
For me, I am getting prepared to submit tons of applications to LinkedIn and Indeed, which you must have known as the typical website people go to when they look for a job. Well, when you are a student, your homework is to finish class assignments. For about-to-be-grad like me, my homework is to keep searching for opportunities and applying for jobs. But here comes the interesting part, unlike a class assignment where you have a rubric and get the letter grade as long as you put in the effort,the assignment that I am working on doesn't really have a rubric. You kind of go with the flow and hope that you will get somewhere at the end.
I have heard of students who tried so hard and after many interviews without landing a single job, they decided to go back to school with more education hoping they will land a job on the next try. For others, this assignment might also help them realize who they are and what they want to do with their life. I have also heard a friend who applied 10 applications every day for over 4 months. Can you do the math for how many applications that person submitted? At least 1200. Yeah, doesn't that sound crazy? And of course, she landed a job for herself. That job didn't show up out of anywhere, but it was traded off with effort and hard work. You know what she told me. She said: "You just gotta keep pushing and never give up." And she's right. Nothing comes easy, but what really matters is how much effort are you willing to put in and how much longer can you keep striving.
When you first step out of school and think you are done with the school, well uh-uh. It's not the end of your learning experience yet because in front of you is a whole new world to explore and life is indeed a different kind of school. If schools like universities teach you how to do your job, I would say that life teaches you more than just how to do your job. Life wants you to become successful, and because of that reason, it might trip you a couple of times with the hope that you stand up and keep moving forward. You'll be amazed by how much you will learn out there, but just remember to never give up. It will be stressful and there may be times when you feel like you just want to run away. But despite how scary the world can be, take it as if you are sitting on the roller coaster experience. You might be at the high point when you got your university degree, but be ready for a downturn, so then you can reach a higher point after that.
As usual, I would end my blog with a summary message: "Graduating is exciting, but along with that excitement, be ready to take up more challenges because you still have a long way to go."
Here is the quote that I learned this week, and I would like to pass it on to you:
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall - Confucius.
