Tuktuk trip: a conversation with one of my students

In our trip on the boat to Tuktuk, I was involved in a conversation with a student of mine. The main topic of our talk was the life after graduation. What I sensed from him was that he faced it with pessimism rather than optimism. Negative words were common in his answers and statements. I seemed to me that he lacked the courage and self-confidence to enter the next thrilling phase of his life.

I developed empathy for him and I wanted to help him. I explained to him that I too had similar feelings and anxiety when I was graduated. I told him that such feelings are normal for they who are to start a new part of their life. It's common because there's no one who knows what lies ahead in the future. But what should not happen is that we became overwhelmed by them. I told him that it's the time to raise our own confidence, courage, optimism and faith. Without them, life ahead will be much more difficult and tougher to live. There is no easy way in a competitive life. It is good so that we'll have good reason to always learn and improve ourselves. Comparing ourselves to others in such a competitive atmosphere is a good way to wisely measure our own quality. But it should not also demoralize ourselves. I told him that a good dose of egoism is healthly in a competition. In such condition where demands are so high while supply of good jobs are hard to find, it's not bad to give much care to our own preparation rather than being worried about other competitors. Why cares about them? I'll care about them after I win. At this point, I share to him some of my experiences in having interviews, psychological tests and other harsh competitions where I succeeded and also failed.

In the end of the conversation, I didn't see great improvements to his initial condition. He still gave me excuses and unnecessay worries. Finally I stressed to him that if he kept that pessimistic point of view in life, I was sure that he was in the verge of becoming a loser. I told him not to quit before trying. Never quit. The principle is just to give your best and let God do the rest. I knew that it might sound a cliche but what can I say more than that? That's the truth, baby. To the extreme, even God cannot do anything to help them who do not want to help themselves.

I wish you good luck, my dear student. Welcome to the alumni club.