It has been a good 5 months since I came to US, and it has certainly been a ride. The senior batch before me is having a farewell diner before they are going back to Singapore in the month of July and August. I must say that I really miss home, and as I would always tell my friends, I miss the 3 Fs – Family, Friends and Food =)
Nonetheless, this whole trip has opened my eyes to the whole of entrepreneurship. More than that, it has shown me the real world out there - the world of making a living, choosing a career, climbing up the corporate ladder, etc. The definition of success is both a balance of a good career and a social life. I have also tried to plan my career route when it’s time for me to enter this world, and I must say it has been quite a ride. At one time I would think that nothing is impossible, I would work hard toward the career I (thought) I wanted, and both the process and outcome would be most rewarding. I even wrote a 15 page paper on how I am going to achieve, courtesy of my class in Stanford.
However, for this few days, I realized that all this immersion in the corporate world left me a little tired. It brought me thinking about the life that I was leading before I came here. It was a world of dancing, community service, and company of friends. Nothing that will propel me high up into the working world, but it was fun and I totally enjoyed every single moment of it. I realized that it was a different world, a world where success has a totally different meaning. Over here, the definition is to be happy. It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or powerful, you just have to be happy.
Now, I’m not saying that the definition of the former is flawed. Yes, being happy is also one of the embedded criteria, how the former definition have more criteria to meet; like having a decent personal wealth and status. And I must say that the route to that is a long one, and I think it’s a road that everyone of us will take as we enter this next phase of our lives beyond our eduction, there is no escape, it’s inevitable.
However, I must still say that I still miss that previous world, very much indeed.
Nonetheless, this whole trip has opened my eyes to the whole of entrepreneurship. More than that, it has shown me the real world out there - the world of making a living, choosing a career, climbing up the corporate ladder, etc. The definition of success is both a balance of a good career and a social life. I have also tried to plan my career route when it’s time for me to enter this world, and I must say it has been quite a ride. At one time I would think that nothing is impossible, I would work hard toward the career I (thought) I wanted, and both the process and outcome would be most rewarding. I even wrote a 15 page paper on how I am going to achieve, courtesy of my class in Stanford.
However, for this few days, I realized that all this immersion in the corporate world left me a little tired. It brought me thinking about the life that I was leading before I came here. It was a world of dancing, community service, and company of friends. Nothing that will propel me high up into the working world, but it was fun and I totally enjoyed every single moment of it. I realized that it was a different world, a world where success has a totally different meaning. Over here, the definition is to be happy. It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or powerful, you just have to be happy.
Now, I’m not saying that the definition of the former is flawed. Yes, being happy is also one of the embedded criteria, how the former definition have more criteria to meet; like having a decent personal wealth and status. And I must say that the route to that is a long one, and I think it’s a road that everyone of us will take as we enter this next phase of our lives beyond our eduction, there is no escape, it’s inevitable.
However, I must still say that I still miss that previous world, very much indeed.
1 Comments:
the correlation between achievements and happiness is that of WHAT you achieve. u can miss the old life, but if u make a choice to give up living it, u made the choice to give up THAT happiness you once knew. there's no right or wrong, but rather what shorta achievements in life we choose to hanker after. a choice to pursue simplicity and contentment is no less an achievement than climbing ladders or accumulating wealth. just my two cents' worth. God bless :)
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