Preparing for your future part 2
Imagine that you travel in a dense forest without a map or sailing at the wide open sea without a compass, Things may go well for a while, but at some point you will realize that you made a big mistake. The same is true if you go to college without direction and a career plan. How many 17 or 18 year old students ever think about a career plan or know what they want when they go to college? How many students go to college without any “compass” or “map”? That is why there are unemployed graduates, people who have degree but no job. To avoid such disaster, you need to think seriously about your education and make a plan to achieve your career goals.
Regardless where you live, most future jobs will require a college education. The benefit of investing in college education is better than any investment you could make in your life. You will get higher salary and better opportunities to take care of you and your family. Of course you have to plan carefully to achieve your goal. A career goal is something that you must commit and determine to achieve it because it will change your life completely. You must understand that a degree is ONLY a key to open the opportunity door but to ENTER your need skills, knowledge, passion, attitude, and personal characteristic. Many graduates can open the door but cannot enter because they do not have the skills, and that is tragic.
When parents tell children to get a college degree, it means to get something that will allow them to make a living. Today degree does not guarantee a job anymore so both parents and children must have serious discussion about what area to study and not just get a degree. Sometime parents do not know which fields of study would allow their children to get a good job because the information is not available. In that case, students need to do their own research and discuss with their parents. Although jobs at local market may vary but most future jobs will be in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and among them, technology is probably the fastest growing and has highest demand.
Many people advise students to “follow your dream” whatever it is but they forget to mention that “your dream” must be realistic. Every young people have dream where they wish that they could do something wonderful but the fact is a dream must be validated with reality and be practical. You must know that sooner or later you will need to make a living. You cannot live in a dream when you must pay bills, must buy food, and need someplace to stay. You must understand that in life, you are alone. You cannot count on your parents to help you forever. No one can study for you, think for you, or do thing for you. Your future is yours to create and by plan it careful, it will gives you the direction to create your own future.
As college students, you must plan your career as soon as possible. You must plan your time to study, selecting friends who have similar plan, and put in your effort to get what you want. With the right knowledge and skills, you are capable of doing many things you may not even consider at this time. Most students only use a fraction of their capabilities but they could do more by expanding their knowledge, realize their ability, their talents, and their potential to do more than they can imagine.
As college students, you only have a limited time to prepare for your future so you should not waste it. Time goes fast but most young people do not realize it until it is too late. Someday you will look back and wish that you should know better. When enter college you probably are too busy with so many things that most young men and women often do. My advice: “Everything can wait but your study cannot.” You should look forward to the future, to the life that you will have, to the opportunities that you will pursue, and how you will make your parents' proud. Understand this big picture will allow you to stay focus rather being distracted by other temptations.
As college students, you are responsible to yourself first, then your family and your society. Focus on developing your career plan, selecting the right field of study, acquiring knowledge and developing skills will allow you to be ahead of others who are still confused by other unimportant things. Do not let anyone to keep you away from your career goals. You go to college to be educated, to be a knowledgeable person, to be a better person, to be a more responsible person, to develop a career that you will work for a long time as “Everything can wait but your study cannot.”
For the past ten years, I have taught in many countries and I saw so many mistakes made by college students, mostly due to the lack of information and limited career planning. Many unemployed graduates told me that they wish that they would know better but it is too late to change. I told them: “It is never too late to learn anything”. As long as they are willing to build another career plan, make an effort to achieve it then thing will improve. There is no reason to stay bitter; there is no time to waste as they should not feel sorry for themselves. I advised them: “Everybody make mistake, learn from your mistake and do not make the mistake again.” The best thing is to review your local job market, try to find areas that still have opportunities and make plan to go back to school and learn those needed skills. If your local schools do not teach them, go to the internet and search for on line tutorials or Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and learn them by yourself. When a student said: “But most of these courses are taught in English.” I told him: “So learn English, if you need a job then you do whatever it take to get it. You cannot wait until somebody prepares everything for you. If you are hungry you have to go and get the food. You cannot wait until somebody put the food in your mouth.” The best thing of online tutorials and MOOC is you do NOT have to pay anything. That is why there are millions of students who are taking these courses from countries all over the world. Sooner or later you will have to compete with these students for jobs so it is better that you do it now.
For college students, if you do NOT plan your careers, set your education goal, develop skills, build a good study habit, and actively pursue your education goal, then you are still walking in a dense forest without a map, or travel in open sea without a compass. Someday you will learn that you are making a big mistake. But at that time remember that I have warned you.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
