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Graduation and detours

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Graduation is the culmination of an individual’s academic journey and the attainment of a goal. It is the completion of a course of study at an academic institution, for which one receives a degree or a diploma.

Records of the Department of Education indicate that 1.6 million students graduated from state-run higher education institutions in the Philippines in 2022. It is estimated that the number of college grades will hit a million this year.

What’s in store for fresh graduates?

Months before I graduated from the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (UNO-R) with a degree in Mass Communication in the 90s, it was pretty clear to me that the future for media was not very bright. But a couple of months before my graduation, I was invited to be part of the Kapamilya Network as a cub reporter and associate producer of the Sarimanok News Network (now ANC) for Bacolod, while I was doing my thesis.

I was reluctant to pursue a career in media even though journalism was my passion because I knew I was never gonna get rich if I decided to become a journalist. My family was financially hard-up and the last thing I wanted was to add to the burden of my parents who could hardly send me to college if not for a scholarship.

I took up Mass Comm because it was the only way I could get a college degree and it was my one last chance to be able to go to college on the last day of enrollment. Big thanks to the Negros Press Club (NPC) for supporting my college education for four years. I only paid P15.00 for miscellaneous fees every term for as long as I was able to meet the academic requirements and the grade cut off for both major and minor subjects.

I can say I took up BS Mass Comm because I was desperate to go to college and earn a degree. Not that I did not like it, I did. I do, very much. It is just that if I had the luxury to choose the course I wanted at that time, it would not have been Mass Comm because I badly wanted to pull my family out of poverty and build a promising career for myself. And I knew for a fact that journalism won’t give those to me. Journalism is a vocation. I do not consider it a profession because it is not only a person’s employment or occupation but rather is regarded as particularly worthy and requires great dedication. In the case of journalists, what we do can cost us our lives or limbs, figuratively and literally.

But God had other plans. I spent my four years in college being a campus journalist. In my final year, I served as the Editor-in-Chief of the official student publication, The Tolentine Star.  That was also the time when I was more than sure I wanted a job still under the umbrella of Mass Comm but not journalism. “There is no money in there,” I would chant mentally to remind myself that I need to take adulting seriously and all love and passion could not feed hungry stomachs. God had other plans, as I have said. He redirected my plans to the very industry where I did not want to be part of anymore because my family’s subsistence was my top priority.

I took that detour God presented to me because I told myself, “What’s important is, you do not end up jobless after graduation. You get to be trained under the wing of one of Asia’s Most Admired Networks”.

What is my advice to graduates?

There may be examinations that evaluate and determine which job an individual is most suited for and surveys and studies that you should or shouldn’t take, however, the bottom line is, you have to follow your heart. One cannot love what she is doing nor will she be able to go the extra mile if she doesn’t love it. I am just blessed that scholarship and detour I took led me to a job that was closest to my heart so the decade I spent struggling both financially and professionally when I was just starting and learning the ropes, didn’t seem like 10 years because I was doing what I loved and I was loving every bit of hard work – the little victories and even the moments (I’ve lost count of) making mistakes, learning, aching, sweating and “bleeding” just to cover and tell a story.

You won’t be good and get better at what you do if you dread doing it. For when you love your work, it never becomes work anymore. It will never feel like you are working. Of course, I had good days and sometimes, plenty of bad days but, if the good days outnumber the bad ones, then you are in the right place.

When opportunity knocks, grab it! Do not hesitate because it won’t present itself twice. It is also for this reason that I grabbed the offer to work with the prestigious network that had been my home for more than 20 years. As the saying goes, “Fortune favors the bold. Fortune favors the brave”.

Ideally, we see ourselves part of an industry we have always wanted to be, the reason why we took up a specific course that we know would prepare us for the profession we want. However, it is not always the case. Expect twists and turns. Be ready to handle these and respond to it with an open-mind and a lot of positivity. An AB Political Science graduate may not end up in Law School and pass the bar, but it does not mean he is doomed. Never let these twists and turns be a dead end. Instead, create new opportunities for yourself by adding value to yourself.

Pursuing a Graduate degree, enrolling in a Culinary Arts school or learning multimedia and how it is utilized in different professions and industries are just a few of the many options you can consider if you want to make yourself more competitive in the labor market.  If one door closes, find other doors that lead to personal and professional growth. If there are no more doors, make one for yourself. Keep learning. Get experience. Learn new skills. Network with people. Take calculated risks. Opportunities are present even in the midst of adversity. That is why it is important that you are able to recognize opportunities.

Borrowing one of my favorite lines from Anthony Hopkins who played William Parish in the film, “Meet Joe Black”, my final advice to the graduates: “Stay open. Who knows, lightning could strike.”*

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