You have got to find what you love
February 22, 2012, 7:52 pm , The Island.
Convocation Address at the of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura,
(Sixth Session)
on February 7, 2012
by Prof. L. L. Ratnayake
Senior Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa
Director, HETC Project, Ministry of Higher Education
Dear Graduates, you must always remember your parents (or guardians), teachers and others who helped you to come up to this stage of your life. While acknowledging the fact that it was you who worked hard to earn your degree, you must not forget the fact that your parents (or guardians) as well as your brothers, sisters, grandparents and others who have made many sacrifices to send you here to get a degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. All of them must be very proud about your achievements. We all rejoice at your success.
You are young adults who have just entered the world of work, and started to make very important decisions in life. It is customary in Sri Lanka to give some advice to the young graduates at our convocations by a senior personality, to mould your future life. Let me attempt to do that for you in the next 15 minutes or so.
First, I would like to quote a few lines from well known personalities in the world;
Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple Computers and Pixar Animation Studios, USA, who passed away recently, said "you have got to find what you love"
Dear Graduates, try not to do things just because your friends, relations or even your parents want you to do them, at least at this stage of your life. Now that you are armed with a well recognized degree from a very good University, you need to find what you like and love to do most, whatever the degree you have got from this University. If you have the determination, courage and trust in yourself, you can make your life and career in what you love and enjoy. You may have to undergo some initial hardships, but I am sure you will excel in what you do in the future.
Steve Jobs dropped out from University (Reed College), because he did not want to waste his parents’ money learning the subjects he had to learn for the College Degree, as he thought that there was no value in them for what he wanted to do with his life - even though at that time he had no clear idea of what he really wanted to do with his life. Instead, he chose to follow some courses that interested him, one of which was in calligraphy – the art of making beautiful handwriting - as it excited him. He had no idea that this was going to help him enormously later on in his life. He started Apple Computers in his parents’ garage, with a friend, when he was just 20 years old. They worked hard, and in 10 years, produced their first creation – the Macintosh, when he was just 30 years old. Apple Computers, which had superior abilities for beautiful art and graphical designs, had a huge market edge over other computers. His studies in calligraphy helped him do this. It grew from just 2 people in a garage into a $2 billion company with 4,000 employees.
In his Commencement Speech at Stanford University, he said;
"If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
Prof. Ruth Westheimers, a well known Professor and Media Psychologist in the USA said "My favourite animal is a turtle. The reason is that in order for a turtle to move, it has to stick its neck out".
There are going to be many times in your life, when you will have to stick your neck out. There will be challenges, and, just like the turtle, if you need to move on, instead of hiding in your shell, you will have to be brave enough to go out and meet them. You should not be scared to do the right thing in your life. Such people always do well in life and are respected in society.
Chris Mathews, renowned television host and speech-writer for former US President Jimmy Carter said "If you want to play the game, go to where it is played and find a way to get in. Things happen when you get in the game". As educated youth of this country, you can always find a place in society and industry. You may feel that joining an institution, organization, club or group is good for your career development or social life. However, hesitating to join them, thinking that you do not have enough qualifications, abilities or the background for it will not take you anywhere. You must learn how to get into it. Once you are in it, you will be able to show your colours, as you, being graduates of this esteemed University, belong to the cream of our society. If you did not try and find your way in, you would never know your potential.
Now, I want to emphasize on the importance of self confidence and determination in order to succeed in life.
Dr. Abdul Kalam, former President of India, when he addressed the undergraduates of University of Moratuwa recently, he recalled famous verses of 13th Century Persian Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi and said that:
"You were born with greatness, you were born with wings, you are not meant for crawling, so don’t, you have wings, learn to use them to fly".
How would you achieve greater heights in life? It is only with self confidence and determination.
Self-confidence may be considered as one of the most important and indispensable characteristics for the success of a person. This is a common characteristic shared by many great leaders in the world. Self confidence, and not arrogance, is the key to winning or excelling in no matter what you do in life. I am sure some of you have already gained some confidence from your academic performances or extracurricular activities, but this may not be enough to get through to a successful career. So, how can you cultivate your self confidence? You must decide how to develop yourself intellectually, technically, professionally and of course morally everyday of your life. If you think that now the time has come to stop learning and start working, I am sorry to say you are sadly mistaken. Dear Graduates, never think that getting a degree from a University is the end of the learning process. Especially in the twenty first century that we are in right now, knowledge is evolving so rapidly that most of what you learnt in your degree will be outdated in a few years’ time. As Doug Marlett, famous US cartoonist once said, "We are all children at various stages of growing up". I believe that the educational experience in the University has given you a sound foundation to be a self learner. We all need to learn something every day in our life if we are to be successful. ‘Lifelong learning’ is more relevant now than it was ever before. If you do not keep abreast of the new knowledge in your area of work, you will soon be outdated, and it will be difficult to face the challenges confidently.
Another way to build your confidence is to seek out the toughest jobs – for example the jobs with the most daunting scientific or medical challenges, and do them well. In the competitive world the employers want talented people who are willing to take on situations where the tasks are difficult or where there is intense competition. You need to have the self confidence to do difficult things, rather than doing routine work. As graduates, you need to define your value. In the competitive world, the value of time has become a critical factor. As they say, "You should not sacrifice all your time to save a dollar, but spend any amount of dollars to save a minute". Those who have been able to save time for themselves and to their organizations have been very successful in life.
Determination is another key ingredient for success. This, I am sure, is nothing new to the Buddhists among us, Uttana Veeryaya being the first in the set of characteristics for success in life according to Lord Buddha’s teachings. History reveals that underdogs too can be winners if you are united, determined and work as a team. We can learn many lessons from our cricket team as well. For example, most of you would remember that none of us even dared to dream that we could win the Cricket World Cup before 1996. However, being the underdogs did not prevent our team from performing marvelously and winning the World Cup in 1996, against all odds.
(Tomorrow: Underdogs have won wars)
Non-academic university staff will go on a 48 hour countrywide strike starting today (Thursday) in protest against the government’s failure to provide higher wages and benefits to them, unions said.
