WHEN YOU ARE STRESSED ABOUT PLACEMENTS AND SCOPE
Pic.: Azriel D'Souza
In last two days, I had
to offer advice to two different people… one, my bright 12th standard
(ISC) student; two, a parent of a 12th standard (HSC) student. But,
the advice was more or less the same.
My
12th standard student (ISC) had come to see me after giving her last
Board exam. As I said, this girl was one of the brightest and well-mannered girls.
She had been telling me about her desire to do Chartered Accountancy and,
accordingly, she had enrolled for its entrance test (CPT). But, when she had
come to meet me two days ago, she wasn’t so sure about her plan. “Whether
Chartered Accountancy is ‘the thing’ I am supposed to do? Or, is it something
else?” Yes, this was weighing her down now. Finally, she said, that she would
continue preparing for the entrance… and, mean while…
Yes,
meanwhile, the young lady hoped to find
an answer!
I
knew, I did not have an answer. I haven’t been able to tell anyone else what he
or she should do in life… including my own son… my only son. I always felt that
one had to discover it for himself or herself, no matter how long or difficult
it seemed…
So,
I only allowed my bright student to express her anxiety without any hesitation…
I only felt, I should come in when she casually told me, during the course of
our discussion, that she was desperate to join a certain college in the city
because of ‘the best placements’!
I
knew, I had to drill a hole in my student’s tender head and put this straight
in...
“Honey,
you are not going to get the ‘best placements’ in life because of your college,”
I put it intensely; “You are not a ‘C/O’ of your college.”
The
girl was shaken-off. Nobody must have told it to her as bluntly as I had. “If
you do not know how good you are, who will hire you, dear… and why?” I explained
to my young student, “Focus on your own worth not on that of your college.”
I
hope, my advice had gone in.
The father of the other
12th standard student said, “Sir, my daughter has just given HSC
Boards… She loves Accountancy… She expects above 90% overall… Please suggest
what she should do… She says BAF (Bachelor in Accounting and Finance)”
Now,
that seemed to be such a simple problem The girl loved accountancy… The girl
was confident of scoring above 90% overall… She had zeroed on BAF… Then, why
was the father so stressed out?
“Sir,
is there scope for BAF?”… That’s the stress!
Will
the young lady – who claims she is good in her subjects… who scores a high
percentage… yes, will this young soul be placed well in life?
I
find it so amusing every time someone – particularly the so-called academically
bright ones and their parents – ask me if there is scope in life…
“My
friend, let me tell you this: If your daughter is good in what she is doing, if
she loves what she is doing… and, above all, if she can confidently present
herself well in life, she will have her place under the Sun. There ‘will be’
scope!”
Hope,
the father had a good sleep, last night…
It
was late at night… and, I had said, “Goodnight”.
GERALD
D’CUNHA
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