In a few days it will be graduation time again. Massive numbers are finishing school this month, to add to the growing workforce available for the country's industries. The occasion can draw out mixed emotions, both feelings of relief from the long years of school and of apprehension over the bigger challenges ahead.
Jeremy, my neighbor's son, feels he needs a very long rest upon finishing his Management course. He plans of going to his grandparents in the province and just idle his time away. It's his prize to himself, he says, for conscientiously devoting many years in school.
The young man pleads with his parents to allow him "to catch his breath, to catch up on life." He tells them he needs time to shake himself up and shift gears. He asks for several months to a year.
From childhood, going to school is the foremost routine of a young person. It is part of the established social system. It is not necessarily the child's decision to enter school; his parents put him there. There's just no safer, better place to deposit a restless young fellow.
Good thing, the child soon learns to like school. He begins to try harder to earn the approval of both his teachers and the other school kids, not to mention the generous parental praises back at home. In due course the child becomes fully immersed in schoolwork.
That's normally how the process goes. Those childish claims of wanting to become anything someday are often the parents' wishes. Young children keep on at school because it has now become enjoyable for them, for many reasons other than getting an education.
In general, it's only towards the end of college that the student begins to consider seriously in which direction to lead his life onwards. By this time he already realizes that he has to start taking on some self-responsibility and personal independence. Before long he has to go on his own to follow his dreams.
Finishing a particular course or earning degree is indeed a major step. But the good one-third of a person's lifetime spent in school is only but a preparation. A college degree may have only equipped the new graduate with at least a specialized skill or, at best, the fundamentals of living.
Jeremy is in the honor roll of his batch. His scholastic rank makes the real world eager to test his learning. The young man is expected to translate his acquired knowledge into actual, practical benefit.
The sooner Jeremy finds a job, the better. Nothing corrodes enthusiasm and bravado quite like prolonged idleness. A very long rest is not a good idea.
Finding a job is not going to be all too easy for sure, perhaps not even for a top graduate like Jeremy. A diploma in hand does not guarantee a job or, for that matter, a good future. It's a totally different ball game after graduation, with a new set of rules.
Those years of training are a big help, of course. The mere self-confidence and communication ability gained from school are already an advantage. These, plus a general understanding of the world, already make the fresh graduates good candidates for employment.
My advice to Jeremy and to all the new graduates: "Come on, life is waiting!" There is still a lot to learn.
(E-MAIL: modequillo@gmail.com)