6/13/2016

Headline June 14, 2016/ ''' THE *STUDENT* GRADUATE '''


''' THE *STUDENT* GRADUATE '''




STUDENT SANYIA RUMI, 18,  -and her most gracious, kind and loving parents, Rumi Shumyial, &  Farzana, had just so many questions and dreams.

Student Sanyia, an apprentice animator in Karachi, was learning the art and craft while dreaming a "Masters' from Australia,  -and all this discourse took place, over a dinner that would have turned an exiled King, green with envy.

Such and similar concerns, could easily be the case of billions of billions of Parents, Students the world over  This is the reality. 

I just posed one main question to the family. If they all had ever worked or considered  a benchmark for life and such a career?  They hadn't. They didn't.  

FOR ALL THE GRANDEUR AND EUPHORIA, graduating ceremonies can be harrowing. Until that momentous day-

You're a student whose job is to do what your teachers ask. But now you have to ask some real things of  yourself.....but what?

If you are relying on a commencement speaker to set your compass, you may be confused at day's end. In my experience, narrates one distinguished author, Angela Duckworth, it's just so common to hear:

*Follow your passion* from the podium. This is great counsel if, in fact, you know what the passion is. But what of you don't?

*Young graduates might imagine that discovering your passion happens the way it does in movies with a flash of insight and a trumpet blast. Before that flash, you were struggling to find that yourself, and in the next moment, and in the next moment, you know exactly who you were meant to be.

As a Psychologist, {Angela Duckworth} , who studies world class achievers, I can say the reality of your passion is not very romantic. It takes time to develop a direction that feels so in-the-bones right that you never want to veer from it.

Thus, my advice to young graduates is not to  ''follow your passion''. Here are three suggestions for doing so:

Move Towards Interests
Don't panic if you can't think of a career path that's a perfect fit. in large
part, this is because interests are not just discovered, they're developed. 

Scientists have learned that the sort of enduring fascination that commencement speakers like to praise usually takes time and experience to bloom fully.

For instance, when she graduated from Smith College, Julia Child had no idea that she would fall in love with French cuisine in her late 30s. She had no inkling that writing cookbooks and teaching on television would one day become her calling.

A good enough fit is a more reasonable aim than a perfect one, Consider your first job as an opportunity to begin an unpredictable, inefficient trial-and-error process.

The violist Roberto Diaz, narrates the author, told me he didn't know the viola before he tried it, and his tepid reaction to the violin could not have foretold the life-long affair he has had with the ever- so- slightly- larger viola.

As I said to one young man, who on the cusp of his first-real job, was paralyzed by indecision : ''Don't overthink it. Move in the direction of something that feels better than worse.'' 

Seek Purpose
People are hard-wired not only to gratify their personal desires but also to care for others. So rather than ask,
''What do I want to be when I grow up?''  ask  ''In what way do I wish the world were different? 
''What problems can I help solve?''  This puts the focus where it should be- on how you can serve other people.

Analyzing data I have collected on thousands of American adults, I've found that that those who have an enduring passion answer affirmatively to statements like, ''In choosing what to do, I always take into account whether I will benefit other people''  and  '' I have a responsibility to make the world a better place.''

Once you've thought of what or whom you care about most, write it down. Psychologists have found that asking people to reflect in writing on their own core values has miraculous effects on motivation.

Because these are  often the values you will be remembered for  -what David Brooks calls   ''eulogy values''    -you might consider writing a paragraph  about what you would like people say about you after you've drawn your last breath. 

It sounds grim, but perhaps the perspective will help you figure out what to do while you have the time to do it.

Finish Strong
Your first job is unlikely to be your last. Once you figure out your next stop, what should you do?

I confess it took a fair bit of job swapping before I knew that psychological research would become my long-tern career. But in each of these jobs, I picked up knowledge and skills that I was able to weave into my current work.

Also consider the commitment you made when you accepted a job. Did you pledge to stay for a year?  Did you promise two weeks notice before leaving? 

Try to keep your word. While personal growth is important, it is imperative to act like the professional adult you are.

With respectful dedication to all the Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and !E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011.


''' The Front-Line '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless

2 comments:

  1. Excellent articalfor students and their parents.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent articalfor students and their parents.

    ReplyDelete

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