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Thursday, September 01, 2005
Sygaco: Achieving Dreams
By Sonia Balasabas-Sygaco
From the E-mail
NOWADAYS, it is common see an exodus of college graduates to big cities. They view their provincial homes as a collection of old paradigms, of folk beliefs, where the best option to get a job is for a worker to retire. They describe the slow pace of life as akin to "slim opportunities" and "stagnant growth".
Though Manila is puffed up with black fumes, dusty roads, and hellish traffic only an angel can bear, it is a head start for job seekers to draw up illusions of a perfect career.
Moving to Manila was an inspiration, a challenge, I had waited. My eagerness to unleash my potentials in the corporate ladder led me to devout my Sunday mornings flipping classified sections for job opportunities. I tried to win from employers the hot seat of a new comer. I did everything, only to find the endpoint of rejection and my aggressive determination for job hunting a failure.
Reality seeped in, presenting a grim image of scarce jobs available in our country with so many of us fresh graduates fighting for the competitive market share--all in a flock heading for the same dream.
Sometimes, I say that life is not fair. We spend so much for education, for high learning only to fight for a few jobs.
My search for job took me another six months. By that time, I was nearly broke and felt like going back home. But my pride...I am ashamed to be labeled a loser, prodded me on. I could not imagine going back to a small town to face an inquiring crowd.
My first job assignment was a mismatch to my profession. Nonetheless I accepted my fate. My work was a routine, which at times left me pondering about what to do next. To motivate, enlighten my spirit, I eyed a writing position, hoping that one day, the job that I should be doing would be in my grasp. After months of playing spy and waiting for the moment to come, I earned the writer's job. I believe the basic formula for success is not giving up but toiling hard to find the way up.
Great personalities achieved so much recognition because they have built their life's career with careful planning and not on an overnight success.
In achieving dreams, it is vital to set goals to aid in planning. It allows a person to choose where to go in life and precisely what to achieve by providing a complete focus. It eliminates unnecessary details by building long-term and short-term visions. It helps organize your time and resources to make the most of it.
By being sharp, clear defined goals can raise self-confidence and thereby achieve aspirations.
In the mindset of ideals, fears arise when one can't work in line with his or her profession. This is the popular concept a decade ago. Today the web of career paths has drastically changed. You can now see businessmen, doctors, managers, engineers, military men, teachers, and other professionals shifting to a nursing career. Today's practical course and most-sought after profession is nursing. We know this brain drain will greatly affect our country's labor force. But, it will surely help us and our families in our struggle for economic survival.
If Dr. Jose Rizal were alive today, his words, "the youth is the hope of our nation," may turn out a paradox, a twisted tale of the 20th century, since the Filipino youth has become the hope of other nations. The young Filipinos today are a bandwagon of skilled migrants enticed by a promising future outside our shores and difficult to ever refuse.
But regardless of this exodus to other nations, the love for country will always be in their hearts. Even at times, when the nation is wrapped in political squabbling, there is always a special place for the Philippines.
In the United States alone, our "kababayans" view most the Filipino channels. They seldom watch the western news. I felt the Filipino's pulse when I witnessed these scenarios in San Francisco homes, then in Sacramento and in New York. The movies we call "badoy" entertain the Filipino expatriates, making them feel closer to home.
If you lived in a progressive country, the standard of living is high and tax is half your income. You earn and spend in dollars. For new migrants the first few months are difficult because of the need to adjust to the new atmosphere and the parading bills to settle. The "do it yourself house work" at times may be tiring. They coined this the "push button system" while our country provides the "voice activated", letting the housemaid do the cleaning jobs.
In the work place, Filipinos have a passion for diligence. Our kababayans go beyond the human strength by taking on two or three jobs at once or go moonlighting from one hospital to another.
We are a unique race always taking care of our families back home, providing them financial blanket. We are popular for sending balikbayan boxes, which the western people find it strange. When I was lining up in the international airport in San Francisco at the Philippine Airline terminal, every passenger had at least two boxes unlike other check-in counters where action moved faster. They find it rather amusing to see Filipinos pushing the heavy carts.
Though, some things in life call for long explanation, there are realities we must face.
Regardless the kind of jobs that bring us to foreign countries or to Metro Manila, or in our provincial homes, there are consequences we have to pay to find comfort in life, to earn a good education and a happy family.
These are the dreams of every Filipino.
(September 1, 2005 issue)
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