Understanding what you really want

Yes you are a degree holder. You have a high paying job. But are you happy, fulfilled and feeling like you are not working but just enjoying the moment? If you answer in the affirmative, good for you; but if your response is the opposite, then you are in a dilemma.

 

You may have regrets and wish that you had taken up nursing because you love taking care of the sick or perhaps a degree in computer science because you really are a web addict and a gadgets fanatic. Stop blaming your mom who enticed you to take up tourism or hotel and restaurant management 10 years ago when these were the fad. Rather, contemplate on what went wrong and where did it all begin.

 

Everything could be traced back to your senior days in high school. It was about then that you begin to weave the fabric of your future. High school graduation is just the start of a long and winding journey towards the world of great discovery and unpredictable challenges. You may be misguided or probably misinformed on the appropriate course to take up. Pressured to enroll in a certain course by your parents, you obeyed because you really did not know what you wanted then.

 

Why is that? Well, maybe you failed to appreciate your strengths and fell short to acknowledge your weaknesses. You just went with the flow. Doing so, you did not develop a firm stand on what you really wanted. Thus, you lacked the nerve to fight for what you really want and where you really want to be.

 

What to do? It's never too late if you get involved in STI's Career Factor Challenge. Or share the good news to enrolling college students come June so they would not be trapped in the same dilemma you are in now. I just tried it and I discovered a lot about myself. No I do not regret acquiring a degree in mass communications. But because of Career Factor Challenge, I found out that somehow I may also become an efficient and effective lawyer if I decide to pursue that path. When my group mates and I were able to build the Tower of Hanoi – one of the games in the challenge – I knew my capabilities. This is a game that really tests your logic and patience. Yes, all you have to do is move circular objects made of styropor with holes in the middle to a pole at the other end to build the tower. But you have to make sure bigger objects should not be over the smaller ones or that would be a deduction. And you can only move objects one at a time. You really have to analyze your every move.

 

Having been part of STI's Career Factor Challenge for media last March 11 was a lot of fun. We were grouped into three with five members each. We were ordered to imagine ourselves as senior high school students to relate with the games. This program that was launched in 2003 is actually meant for graduating students to prepare them for college. Career Factor participants are made to understand that there are skills one has to acquire in order to survive college and the life after that. Conducted for free at STI colleges and education centers throughout the country, there is no boring moment because the challenges are instituted in game format. Since this is a challenge, participants compete in a very friendly manner to determine the winner.

 

Yes, college is a level of study that one goes through after high school. In STI's Career Factor challenge one will find out that the letters comprising the word COLLEGE has a corresponding meaning. Such as C for communication skills, O for organization, L for logic, the second L for leadership, E for energy, G for group skills and E for entrepreneurship.

 

Let's take a look at how college challenged us.

 

Communication - we underwent fortune telling where we were given a password. Then we were blindfolded and ordered to shout the password to identify our group mates. Had we mispronounced the password it would have been a never-ending shouting and yelling. There was also a game called "Say it aloud" - set of tongue twisters we had to read aloud to get the envelope that contained instructions for our next stop.

 

Organization - we were required to create a banner for our group that led us into cutting and pasting of colored papers. But it was not a simple task because we had to explain why we came up with such. This was where the organization of thoughts was tested. By creating a flag, I was convinced I do not have a future in either interior or fashion designing. I am not creative in that respect.

 

Logic. Tower of Hanoi tested the thinker in us. We consumed 26 minutes. We were the slowest group, to be honest. But it made us understand that proper focus on what one is doing counts a lot. We agreed we would not hurry with our decision because what was essential was to do the job right. We lost that game since everything in this challenge is timed.

 

Leadership. There was no designated group leader. But being able to suggest and formulate decisions as quickly as possible were manifestations that each participant is a potential leader. The ability to encourage and comfort a group mate who failed to perform well was also a positive facet of leadership.

 

Energy. If passing through a portion of a spider's web without any part of your body touching the web itself was not physically challenging enough, then I do not know what is. And we were always racing against time as we hopped from one stop to the next, under the scorching heat of the sun. We were provided with a multicab and a driver but traffic jam was such a hurdle. With that, I knew I really do not have a career in the military or in a field that requires so much energy. I easily get tired and I complained a lot.

 

Group skills. This was tested through a game called cup stack. We had to build a pyramid of plastic cups. Sounds easy, right? Wait until you know the mechanics: no direct contact with the cups so it meant you cannot touch them. We had to use a rubber band to put them in place. Too much pulling or the lack of it would result to the collapse of the pyramid. Teamwork was a must.

 

Entrepreneurship. Financial rewards are not gained directly. But if you made good in your college life, the fruit of success is yours for the picking in the end. With Career Factor telling you what you can do, you are certain you are on the right track, pursuing the right course.

 

Wonderfully, we also found out how good some of us are in mathematics. Our group scored perfect in the game called "I love numbers." We won because we solved the given problems very quickly. And oh, I launched my singing debut during the game called "Chicha Mangga." I successfully gave Visayan pride Dulce a run of her money when I sang our very own "Usahay" classic while my mouth was full of chicharon and dried mangoes. My group mates and I performed it in front of Fort San Pedro to the amazement of Koreans passing by. It boosted my confidence even more.

 

Yes, the games were representation of what one will encounter in college and what attitudes a student should develop. Yes, we were just playing and laughing at ourselves after every mistake and clapping after every triumph. Enjoyable, memorable and meaningful challenges indeed, giving us a deeper and better understanding of ourselves. Try STI's Career Factor Challenge. It worked on us. There is no reason it won't work for you.