CLARK FREEPORT -- Subic Bay Metropolitan SBMA chair and administrator Wilma Eisma urged students who recently completed secondary school to work hard to become extraordinary.
“Don’t be afraid that you are ordinary, because ordinary does not make you less; it only means you can still work to be extraordinary.”
With these words, Eisma urged this year’s graduating senior students at the Subic National High School in Subic, Zambales to go out of their comfort zones and take chances in life.
Eisma, who was invited to inspire the students with her success as a government executive and career woman, said that while some people become extraordinarily successful, some tend to become too confident that their careers become stagnant.
“On the other hand, the so-called ordinary people have so much time to work and improve themselves and become more successful. The ordinary could become extraordinary. So, being ordinary should not be something to be worried about,” she said. Eisma also told the students about the lifelong lessons she learned when she went to school in Olongapo City.
“Follow your parents; do not be afraid to take chances; and do not be afraid to fail,” she said.
Eisma revealed how she learned to cope with the rules her parents had imposed on what to wear or not wear in going out of the house, on the 5 o’clock curfew, and on having a boyfriend.
“It took me 50 years to realize that my mother will always know best, that my father knows best,” Eisma related.
“Believe me, those rules are there for a reason. And I highly recommend that you follow your parents because they have nothing but your best interest in mind.”
The SBMA executive also challenged the graduating students to take chances, as she observed that many graduates preferred to content themselves with what was easy and safe.
“You will never know what is in store for you until you take the chance,” she said. “It is in taking those risks that you find greatness. It is in taking risks that you find success,” she added.
As a former senior officer of the multimillion-peso corporation Philip Morris (Philippines) International, Eisma said she earned more than what she is receiving today.
The SBMA head said she took the chance and accepted the offer of President Duterte to become administrator of SBMA, and later as chairman.