Sunday, March 16, 2008

TO THE GRADUATES OF '08

For this year’s graduates who will again take another leap toward the fulfillment of their dreams, congratulations. This year you will be part of the thousands who are lucky enough to stride out of the confines of the academe and face the real world you were long prepared to confront.

You should be aware that the world you will face is much worse than what you expect it to be and much less tolerant than what you hope it to be. On the positive note, the life ahead of you is full of nice people you can be friends with. A life that offers more opportunity to grab and more chances to excel.

You may have a hard time looking for a job and you may never find one for at least for a couple of months or even years if you’re not so lucky. You may decide to accept a job that you don’t really like for the sake of having a job but even so be sure you won’t stop pursuing the professional you wanted to be. Whether the job you get is a stepping stone to a greater career or a profession you want to have for the rest of your life, you need to do your best at it. If you are not successful the first time, try again and don’t give up. Rest if you must but don’t you quit. Success takes time to achieve. There may be others who may hit it big the first time but the majority of successful people took the hard path.


Some people may try to pull you down and some might even bully you but don’t mind them. Just look at the people who can be an inspiration to you and just do what you have to do. Learn to fight for what you believe is right and say no to things you don’t agree. Don’t be too much of an instigator at work but don’t kiss your boss’s ass either. Stand up for what is right even if it is against the belief of the majority of your seniors. Standing for what is right doesn’t necessarily mean being insubordinate and being young doesn’t mean being wrong.

As a new graduate with new ideas and idealistic views you can always bring the change needed in the workplace, bureaucracy and in the entire society you will belong. Bring the fresh air for the world to breathe and be a person of example even for the people who have been ahead of you. Be an inspiration as well to the young hopefuls that will soon be the next ones to fill in the shoes of being a new graduate. Whatever lies ahead of your life, be thankful all the time. To God as always and to the people who in one way or another helped you to get where you are. Believe in your dreams and believe in the dreams of the people who are expecting a lot from you. Whatever you do give it your best shot always that as if that chance will never come again. As Barack Obama says, be the change you can always believe in.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

STARTING TO REALIZE

After I graduated from college in 2006, I immediately wanted to have a job just like anybody else. But unlike others who have their reasons for getting a job, either to pursue their childhood dreams or to support the financial needs of their families, I have none at all. At least not a valid one.

The reason I had back then for looking for a job was because I have to. I have to, not because I need to earn money or because I was forced by my parents but because I was already done with school. After school, I thought, what is supposed to follow is work.

That, I think, was the reason why I accepted a job I didn’t really like, in a company that I didn’t like either at first. I said to myself that since I’m already in one of the biggest corporation in the country, I’ll just try it anyway at least for a year. I was paid a minimum wage without any benefits for six months and I worked in a rotating shift. Everything seems to push me to quit. I didn’t.

I decided to stay and it is almost two years now since I began my job. Many things have changed since then and it is only now that I am starting to realize how much my work helps me in a lot of things. Not only that I was able to finally pay my school debt, I am now also able to pay all our monthly bills at home. And sometimes I even pay for the tuition of my siblings. It is only now that I am starting to realize that had I quit my job in the first few months, I would now be in so much regret.


Wednesday, March 12, 2008

AGE

I never really realized that I am getting old until these past couple of weeks. I went to work earlier than usual and met some OJT’s and since my regular schedule is night shift, it is uncommon for me to see them. I introduced myself and I got along with them easily.

As our conversation went along, what I realized was that even if I am only two years older than them, it seems that the things we talked about were on different dimensions. They shared stories about school and I about work. The weird thing was that even if I only graduated two years ago and only started to work for more than a year, I felt that I was a decade older than them. Especially so when they called me kuya, I said to myself that I am really getting old.

I am not so sure if that was because I wanted to be stuck in my student days that I didn’t want to get old or I just never noticed that time flies so fast. I know I am still young at age 22 but I never really imagined myself at this age before. I knew what I will be as a student even before I reached high school and college but I never had a clear idea of what I will be after that. Of course I had some thoughts but I was not so sure which of it will be the reality.

Now that I am already here, done with my school days and have a stable work, I’m still unsure of what lies ahead of me. That uncertainty, I think, is what holds me back from accepting the fact that I cannot stop at any stage of my life and examine the future before going there. Life will go on and before you know it, the future that you were once looking forward to come is already now and another future lies ahead.

At my age, I may not be as young as I wanted to be but surely I can enjoy this the way I enjoyed my previous years in life. Especially so that many consider my age as a peak of a person’s life, I want to be able to say when I’m 30 (if ever I’ll reach that age) that I am 30 but at least I enjoyed the years of my 20’s.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

LANGUAGE

I watched the Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant last Saturday and was I awed in what I saw . I don’t really watch beauty contests but since I was at work at the time and the show was newsworthy, I decided to tune in anyway. What particularly caught my attention was the question and answer portion where judges determine which contestant has beauty only as a façade and which contestant has beauty and wit combined.

As the questions start rolling, the candidates answered intelligently as they could in spite of the obvious tense emotion that they were feeling. Almost everyone did well except for the one who eventually won the Miss World 2008 title, Ms. Janina San Miguel who grabbed the attention of all that were watching both sleepy and not. She started by saying how confident she was and then continued to prove how she’s not. She answered the judge’s question by mumbling the words, laughing in disbelief and murdering the English language with the tenses as the chief fatality. Her answer was so stunning that it was already in Youtube just hours later. As expected, Ms. San Miguel’s answer earned a lot mockery and ridicule. I will not wash my hands here because I too was guilty of laughing at her. However, if we try to look at it in retrospect, the problem may not only be on her but also in the way we perceive this kind of thing.

In beauty contests such as this, many of us if not all of us have a notion that contestants with exceptional eloquence in English are the brightest and those with a native accent are second greats. Of course having a good command of the English language is a sign of intelligence but that is certainly not the only parameter for it. In fact, other European and Asian countries that don’t even speak English in international beauty pageants have more Miss Universe, World and International crowns than us.

I believe that if pageant coordinators will be open to the idea that Filipinas from all over the region, even without a full grasp of the English language, will be given equal opportunity, we will be able to widen our pool of beauties with brains that can compete in international pageants. If contestants from other countries can bring interpreters with them why not us? Let us not be ashamed to have a visayan interpreter or bicolano interpreter or even filipino interpreters in our contests and bring it abroad if we should.

English language is not our only way toward global competitiveness. I believe it plays an essential part but our own language can be competitive as well. Let us learn Filipino by heart and English as a second tongue. Those who know English can use it all they want but let us not hinder in any way the progress of those who cannot by limiting their opportunities. Encouraging the use of Filipino in beauty pageants is not a bad start and besides one of the country’s grandest pageant is called BInibining Pilipinas and not Miss Philippines
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Sunday, March 9, 2008

GETTING STARTED

Anne Morrow Lindbergh once said that a good coffee is as stimulating as good conversation that both can keep you wide awake even at the deepest stretch of the night. Coffee and conversation do not only share their similarity in keeping us awake but also they often meet whenever great ideas are made and intellectual thoughts are created.

Diplomatic issues are discussed over a cup of coffee, office problems are talked over a cup of starbucks cappuccino, union strikes are planned with Great Taste 3in1 and even family problems are sometimes solved alongside Nescafe instant coffee. Conversation and coffee is such a great combination that even before Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Dr.King’s dream piece were written, both orators talked about these ideas with their colleagues as caffeine aroma emanates from their cups.

The idea of coffee being a partner to thoughts and ideas is what inspired the theme of this blog. With this coffee theme, topics such as politics, beliefs and other stuffs as serious as an espresso can be expected. Also, familiar street debates and city stories as common as coffee in sachets sold in stores will be shared and imparted. Basically, this blog is intended to resemble the simple talk friends and acquaintances used to have over a simple cup of coffee.