The date was 2nd April 2011, when four friends and I met with an employee of Shell's Global Team (whom I shall keep anonymous). I woke up that morning filled with excitement, knowing that I'll be given an opportunity that only a few would ever meet. As we reached the location of our meeting, we prepped ourselves for an informal style of understanding certain aspects of the corporate world by means of listening to the said Shell employee.
She delivered her take on how technology, diversity and ethics are prevalent in performing at the corporate workplace. Right now, you may think that this meeting indefinitely turned into another typical talk where the information we got were the exact same as what magazines or newspapers send out to us. Well, it wasn't so (thank God). She went on explaining on the three topics and shared many experiences she had with us with regards to her entire working experience, both with Shell and firms prior to Shell. Not dwelling into that, she later opened the discussion into a question and answer session which I really must say cleared up a lot of the clogs that were lingering in my brain. I mean, it's not like we get this kind of 'necessary information on how to deal with ourselves and our surroundings once we enter the workforce' everyday; and this is the problem with this country.
My question after the session was this: "Why weren't we exposed to such information even earlier on in our lives, say in high school perhaps?" "Why hasn't the government fulfilled its role in developing the younger generation of this nation if we really are the future of the country?"
The current reality of the generation I am in is that we enter the working world unprepared, thinking that everything that we have learned in school, college and university will suffice. You know, and I know, that this is clearly not the case. We have questions for you, older generation, that you constantly fail to provide us answers to; "What should we expect when we first start working?" "How do we manage our finances once we start receiving salaries?" "Should we follow our passion or chase after financial stability?" "What do firms look for when they hire a fresh graduate?" "How do we deal with ___ (fill in the blanks) that is a pain in the ass (forgive the vulgarity) in our working life?" "What are the benefits that we should seek during employment?" The list will just go on and on and on, on a never ending treadmill heading towards confusion.
Eventually, I deduced that there could be two main reasons (or excuses) that the older generation (including parents, teachers, lecturers and the government) tell themselves to warrant themselves from shouldering the responsibility of preparing the younger generations for the future;
Excuse 1: "We learned the hard way and got here, so you too should do the same."
Excuse 2: "You are not matured enough to understand even if we told you."
With regards to excuse #1, I find it really absurd that this should even be conjured in your mind. What's the rationale in making us fail in order to succeed if we could just succeed without failing? You have plenty of experiences, you share some and withhold others. WHY? You teach us not to smoke and forbid us from taking drugs, but refuse to teach us the necessary soft skills to jump-start success. If you want your children to learn to not play with fire, would you want them to get burnt as a learning experience? The very advantage of our generation is that we have both technology and a previous generation to teach us about the realities of life. The only reason why the latter should be withheld is that you're afraid that our success will supersede yours. But shouldn't that be the proper way of life? Isn't that what you call progress? Spare us the hardships, and we will deliver a performance never before seen in the history of man. And to my country, this is especially intended for you; know that we can learn faster if we are spared from the mistakes that were made before from our previous generation.
For excuse #2, let me just tell you this nicely, YOU ARE WRONG! Well... I would rather think that you are the ones that learn far too slowly. You refuse to accept change the way we do. We respond to changes the moment they arrive, while you scamper with your conventions. We exploit the internet and telecommunications that gives us far more knowledge, power, influence and network that you have in your lifetime. We have a drive to succeed in life, no matter our age. In my old school, there were so many lost opportunities, where students dreamed of studying in Ivy Leagues but never did because they didn't know how. Where is the school in tackling this issue? Why not teach the young ones about the financial world; stock market, Forex, etc.? We can handle it! If there's a problem with maturity, it's with you. Why must we wait till we graduate and enter the working force to find out all the available avenues for success when you could show them to us? I fail to fathom your logic in all this. And for those teens who do in fact have a rather low maturity, no lesson is wasted. Somehow and some-when, what you taught them would serve to their welfare, be it a small or big change.
So stop withholding your knowledge from us. Teach us. Show us. Tell us. Believe in us. In turn, we promise success. We will deliver. Just watch and see; Once you let us, we will shine!
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