In the recent US Embassy “Go Negosyo Mentor Me Innovation Forum,” Mr. Paul Rivera, one of the key innovators, has instilled a thought to many graduates who have been applying for a job. He said that it is not enough that you get a degree and a job, but it is also about knowing who you are and what you’re capable of doing.
Rivera pinpointed that many students graduate every year. Some gained knowledge in the premise and some probably wasted time copying papers from their classmates. The aftermath of this is now taking up the real deal: surviving life. The first step is either applying for work or building your own business. Rivera, founder and CEO of Kalibrr, a job assessment website, observed that more than half of the applicants in his company and other companies don’t consider what job or position they’re entering into as long as they get a salary at the end of the day. So when it comes to the job interviews or skills testing, it seems that there are only few applicants qualified, and the rest are forced to keep looking for a job that suits them.
Ideally, Silliman college graduates do not usually end up as contributors to the unemployment rate of the country. As we have known in our university’s history, Silliman has been producing high quality graduates capable of innovating.
After years of evolution, there has been a big change towards approaches of learning. Technology does most of the work for us, and it just needs a few clicks to know the meaning of “indolent”—and that’s what we are becoming.
Many students nowadays rely too much on technology. It has reached the state where the brain is seldom exercised because the answers are all in the Internet, or it’s just a matter of copy-paste which defies what school is for.
Rather than teaching the path on where we are to stand and blossom, many have learned a few tricks up their sleeves and have full confidence in passing the subject. Rivera added that many applicants had a hard time even writing simple essays during their college days.
The insight: it’s not enough to just sit in class and fall asleep for the sake of attendance. The sole purpose on why we are here in school is to learn and to know ourselves. Knowledge is infinite, and it defies who we are. A training ground should not be taken lightly. Silliman is the training ground we are in.In everything we do, we make a lasting mark—either big or small. While we’re still here in Silliman, let’s make permanent milestones to maximize ourselves and know more things that are beyond the four walls of the classroom.
