Ten years

Looking back from the time when I was still in high school, I never imagined myself reaching this point of wanting so much to become an IT professional. Where did the desire come from? I mean, it was not really the way I planned back then. From the very start, being inclined to information technology was never a part of my choices.

It was either I wanted to be a physicist or to pursue mass communications. I had always loved physics and my interest for it was enough to drive me to where I would like to be. Mass communications, it was my one ancient want. My passion for media-related activities was burning hot and I felt safe and happy to be in that zone. I wanted to be a newscaster and I dreamed of myself getting a solo show of social relevance. I often pictured myself being a film director and a scriptwriter. I sometimes put a little television program in front of the mirror. The latter seemed so crazy and bizarre. That just proved how I was so into that dream.

However, some things were just meant to remain fantasies. The end of my first story was so obvious. I was not able to feel and see those dreams transforming into reality. It ended up nothing. And so during the last months in high school when everyone was deliberating for their degree courses, I had nothing to hold on to. What would I want to be? Confusions and doubts were in my thoughts every time I formulated that question. It was a very simple question though but in my case, it was the hardest to be answered. I could not find answers and even career guidance orientations were never a help for me to figure things out.

High school graduation was getting nearer and I still could not decide as to what I would be in college. My parents, as well as my siblings, and I often argued about this matter. My brother would say that it was best for me to take up BS Nursing but in the first place, the idea of being a nurse was the least I would consider. Trying to visualize myself holding a syringe, taking blood examples and witnessing medical surgeries just could not urge me. It made me sick. Besides, my parents could not afford the above average expenses of a nursing student. My parents were not that rich to give me a huge pool of degree courses to choose from. That was one great reason why I did not even bother them to let me try mass communications. I knew for a fact that being in that course would mean a serious amount of money. I had to put myself in a position wherein I had to utilize and be satisfied with what were bestowed on me and with what were deprived of me. For apparent reasons, with encouragement from my parents, I decided to get a glimpse of USeP (University of Southeastern Philippines). From that, I was able to pick three courses which were AB English, BS Electronics and Communications Engineering and BS Information Technology. Again, another family conversation took place. AB English? A big NO NO. BS ECE? Five years in college and another intensive board exam. Not again. BS IT? Well, sounded great and new. Four years and it was attainable.

Hello Bachelor of Science in Information Technology! I found it weird during our first classes when every professor was asking this same question: “Why did you choose BSIT?” I would suddenly struggle in a search for a technical but impressive answer because honestly, I could not give any except for the fact that I was merely influenced by my family and by my own lame reasons. That was it, a blank. Good enough I did not become the unlucky one to be asked in front of a bunch of freshmen. Somehow, I chose to give justice to what I had decided to do – to embrace the reality of being a BSIT student.

What would be the things that were ought to happen in pursuance of my chosen degree? Of course I had to endure four years of an absolute mixture of misery, happiness, excitements, challenges and humiliation. The latter sentence was I thought the best general description of what was it like to be in my college life.

Misery. If I do a quick math calculation, I would conclude that approximately 40% of my collegiate existence will be given to this big M. It might appeal strange but whenever I set foot on my school’s entrance, there were moments that I smelled the unbearable scent of misery. That seldom made me not wanting to attend classes anymore. I could feel the inevitable pressure that surrounded me at school. The thought of seeing our professors, the upcoming stressful and strength-sucking projects, mind-breaking examinations and scary reports all made me feel very unwelcome. With every failure that I took, with every moment of being left behind by other people, and with every task that was unfulfilled, I nearly threw myself into hopelessness. I was almost on the verge of giving up and I even considered having a detour. That was to shift and try other options available. I was already willing turn my back away from the responsibilities I was supposed to be dealing with at school. I wanted to start, play safe and never to mess my life again. In short, I wanted to call it quits. But then again, that was how things were. It was just a matter of acceptance and getting used to. What’s life without misery?

Happiness. I would be a hypocrite if I came to say that within those days of spending college never had I tasted the fun and joy of being a new person every time I had been through a lot of struggles. Misery was not after all my sole partner. Thinking that I was not able to give in to losing the battle, I could not help but be happy in spite of whatever it cost me. My friends were there, same fate as me, but we were still enjoying. We were always so happy to learn something new at school. It was so fulfilling every time we acquired knowledge from our subjects, especially if we were able to apply it outside and even in our daily informal conversation. The fun of making our projects, whether it was programming or technical papers, the sleepless nights we were able to bear in brainstorming and those times when we could do nothing but laugh at our unluckiness in submitting requirements were all sometimes frustrating however miraculously amusing. It was so hard not to remember when we were able to jam with our teachers and to joke around them, still at the same time having fruitful discussion in all things about information technology – its technicality, political issues and even environmental issues.

Being in an institute encircled by intelligent people who were ready to impart what they had learned from experiences and years of education was a privilege enough for me to say that it had never been a regret to go this path. I had known a lot about information technology and they made me see that there was more to being an IT professional than what was commonly heard of it. It was just not about being a call center agent, being a programmer and etcetera. The truth was a huge responsibility waits for those who were planning to commit their lives being an IT professional. Upon knowing this, it made my own perspectives wider and more realistic as compared to what I had before. It was time for me to redirect my goals and to have a clearer vision of what I wanted to be in the next few years. Since I had chosen BSIT, I had to keep going and do whatever it takes to leap every milestone leading me to where I was irrevocably wanting to achieve from the very beginning.

It may sound ambitious but ever since I had known of Bill Gates, there had never been a day that I stopped dreaming of following his legacy. I wanted to be as brilliant as him and of course, becoming enormously rich as he was. It may seem ridiculous but I sometimes thought of hitting bigger, more than what he had accomplished. In this computer age, he will always be the person that I look up to regardless of what other competitors throw at him. I had never lost interest in what he could do and I would forever admire him for bringing ease to the common end-users of the computing industry.

What did it cost Bill Gates to have come to this unimaginable success? How did he do it? Was it just pure luck? Was this because of his enthusiasm and brilliance? Could that be for the reason of hard work and help from friends? Was it because of his education? Or simply it was his destiny. Perhaps, I would never stop wondering. Well, just like me, we are both human and everyone can do what he is capable of doing. It was not as if he had those extraordinary possessions such as the genie and a magic wand. He is just plainly like everyone else. Yet the difference was that he had everything that every person in the world would be dying to have: power, success, wealth, brilliance and he could afford all stuffs. He did not even have to enter into politics to conquer those. What was really his secret?

When I thought of Bill Gates, I thought of my future. What would it be like to live a life like his? How would it feel to be as successful as him? Would it be that easy? Of course, it would never be that easy. Would I be ready for the journey toward that future? That was why I had all the means lingering in my brain. Maybe, in my case it should start by being worthy to be called an IT professional since I had no plans of wasting my education by not using it. Why not make it the key? What would be my strategies? Would ten years be enough? How would I spend ten years meaningfully?

Let me think of the ways. My number one will surely be to take care of my health because first and foremost among all it’s the most important. Health is wealth, as what people would primarily quote. Obviously, I will not reach ten years if I die too soon or logically, I will not be able to achieve what I had put into my mind when my body would never be capable of doing jobs. Getting a healthy body starts from getting enough sleep. That would mean I have to sleep as early as 10 pm and wake up eight hours after. I will also do regular exercise in the morning to strengthen my muscles so that I may able to cope up with physical pressures and stress. A glass of milk at breakfast and at night will surely strengthen my bones. I should practice a balance diet, less monosodium glutamate, less pork, preservatives and sweets. Drinking a lot of water will also be a big help as it would detoxify my inner body. Physically, taking a bath twice everyday will wipe away all the harmful bacteria leaving me clean and fresh. Loosening up sometimes will surely free me from mental stress so get-together with friends and family and little nature escapades will do. I have to enhance my immune system in defense from any kinds of illness by taking plenty of Vitamin C. To protect myself from getting cancer, I have to eat pineapples at least thrice a week. An apple a day takes the doctor away. One thing important, I have to be 100 % free from all kinds of harmful habits specifically smoking, alcoholism and illegal drugs intake.

In this present world wherein doing one job at a time is not any more acceptable for most organizations, people tend to make haste. Multitasking nowadays is a serious lifestyle for any one who wants to survive with more than enough at hand. If I thought of the future, probably it would be more than just multitasking. By that time, people will double or even triple their hard works as to make out for a living. Another more demanding and more rapid lifestyle will certainly be the new trend. If that would be the case then as early as now, I should get used to doing multiple jobs with different range of difficulties. I should start by organizing my to-do list and make the greatest effort to follow what has been planned. Planning ahead to succeed and utilizing time wisely will be my darkest weapons in the long run so why not practice it beforehand.

Learning is a continuous process. Being a professional in information technology is not acquired from a four-year degree alone but also from keeping track of the latest knowledge that evolves from day to day. In a technological aspect, methods and techniques are constantly developed in a way that the latest is always better than the previous. Therefore getting updated will be one thing that I am going to take notice of and I am going to live out for it. Particularly, it will be learning by doing for all time. Earning a doctorate degree in Information Technology will be my very first move. It will be the commencement of who I will be in ten years time. Getting involved in IT conventions and seminars will be the means for me to gain knowledge of the fresh technical methodologies. An internet browsing for a routine will provide me the means to get in pace of the different global IT strategies and to be familiar with newborn standards. The World Wide Web will also give me the chance to expose my pieces and ideas. It will also open my world to the different experts in the IT industry and perhaps Bill Gates, and they will help me widen my creativity, resourcefulness and intellect.

Interaction is an essential factor of being successful. True that one could never claim that being triumphant will be solely for the reason of self-reliance. No man is an island. This is such a cliché yet it still applies to the truth. Success is attained through a team effort. It is something not one person can work for independently. Hence, I should have to improve my socialization abilities so that I may able to extend my connection. When in times of inconvenience, resource constraints and discoveries, I have a bunch of friends and acquaintances to request from. But surely, it will not be a host-parasite relationship. I will not intend to merely ask help from them but also in return, I could offer them my help at all times. It will definitely begin with a friendly attitude. Then, I will make use of electronic social networking because that is one best way to achieve millions of sociable friends. I will explore my own social allies. I have to be well-versed at anything interesting and significant and I have to be physically presentable for me to get in a circle of intellectual and famous giants. To cut it short, I have to be fully aware of my interpersonal skills.

There is nothing more effective than to key in the theories in the real scenario of experimentation. Having been equipped with self-confidence, positive attitude, values, mental alertness and capacity, constantly-developed skills: combination of people-related, technical and business skills, wide ranging levels of global IT exposures, unremarkable degree of education and not to mention a healthy body and of course; an unbreakable and clearer vision in my mind, it will be the good components that I possess for me to take an entrance in Microsoft Corporation.

I will be working there as the head of a huge software engineering team and I am going to exert a lot of energy in my job. I am going to be an excellent leader, brave and wise in producing a decision and I will use every ounce of learned methods and techniques I acquired since college. I will be the best systems analyst and no one could ever dare say that I am nothing. I am going to spend four years of my career in Microsoft and as soon as I am strategically prepared to go higher, I will be stepping out of the organization. On the tenth year, I will go back to my own country and pursue interesting IT investors to put up my own software development corporation. I will hire the best Filipino IT specialists in town and in a team effort; we will extend our market worldwide, make it big. We will make the Philippines the new IT capital not just in Asia but throughout the world. For our fellowmen, we will localize all common software so that even non-English speaking Pinoys will have the fun of learning the computing technology. We will also be considerate with environmental issues in relation to IT. We will be devoted to the concept of Green Campus Computing and we will also be in consensus with Free Open Source Software (FOSS). In the succeeding years, our company will be as gigantic and invincible as other international corporations.

Who now says that ordinary people do not have an inch of opportunity to dream this big? Small things lead to great things and there is a huge selection of future to choose from. Promising futures are waiting for those who are willing to dream and to make it real. For now, I may not be the person that I had described in those ten years of a lifetime but who knows? Once the opportunity comes knocking, I will use every element of my senses to come seize it.

Go for the goal!