Tying the Knot with My ‘Soul Mate’
Monday, February 19th, 2007"Inspirational speech" delivered during the second day celebration of the 41st anniversary of the College of Mass Communication held February 19, 2007 at the Amphitheater, Silliman University:
Tying the Knot with My ‘Soul Mate’
In keeping with the celebration of Valentines month, allow me to start off “romantic”.
When I was in high school, I refused to court the idea of taking up Mass Communication. I flirted with a “lucrative course”; one that most of the people around me made me believe would land me a good-paying job right after graduation. So I courted, and eventually married, Accountancy, inspired by my relatives who are successful accountants.
While my first months of marriage were bliss, the sails became tougher and tougher as my monthsaries with Accounting 11 piled up toward my midterms and then finals. The nightly honeymoons in the bed of balance sheets kept my clothes of fading interest on. By the month, it went tougher for me. While I accepted the course’s polygamous nature, I found myself losing my credits to her other guys. And when I was just near the deficit mark—while I still had some dignity left—I had to make a decision: with eyes wide open, I kissed my first wife goodbye.
It was only after I got divorced from Accountancy that I contemplated getting steady with the course that my father teased me with, Mass Communication. Well, I could not say it was love at first sight. Maybe it was infatuation that eventually developed into love, as my encounter with writing and speaking dates back to my high school years.
The first months with my live-in partner were nothing special. Maybe because I missed my first wife; I could still smell her lingering scent. But I tried hard. And in March 2003, I finally asked for her hand and gave my “I do…’till death do us part.” I realized, I made the right choice. She is my soul mate.
Let’s get serious and drop the romance.
This long process of knowing what I am here in the world for had me subject myself to introspection, asking questions guided by the journalistic 5Ws, 1H and, more importantly, So What:
(1) What do I want to do with my life?
- This answers what kind of future and life you want to enjoy.
- You align your plans with your interests and skills.
(2) Where do I want to go?
- This answers where in the corporate organizational chart you want to be located from the moment you start working in the organization and, say, five years from that time.
- You foresee your role in and your possible contributions to the society.
(3) When do I start working on it?
- This answers when you have to start preparing yourself, equipping yourself with the necessary skills.
- You give a timeline to yourself (i.e. By the age of 35, I hope to become VP for corporate communications of a big company).
(4) Why does it have to be so difficult?
- This answers your doubts about your abilities, if you can really reach it up there.
- You translate challenges in life as opportunities for you to brush with your unknown self, know yourself better, and realize your potentials to the fullest.
(5) Who do I trust and rely on?
- This helps you determine the people who play an important role in your life, and assure yourself that there are people you can always turn to when the sailing gets rough.
- You determine your support system and establish a stronger faith in the Lord.
(6) How do I handle my life amidst challenges?
- This enables you to know your strengths and weaknesses, and use such knowledge to guide you in your decision-making.
- You don’t always think of the best things that could happen to you; you also need to prepare for the worst. Psyche yourself up for the hardest blows of life.
(7) So what if I am there already?
- This helps you maintain your feet on the ground, always looking back to the kind of life you once had and giving high regard to people who have in one way or another helped you achieve your dreams.
- You let your life be defined not by the number of achievements you have but by the number of people whose lives you continue to touch and inspire. You view the people that you work with as partners, always sharing the credit of your success with them.
People think that Mass Communication is an easy course. “Why spend for something you can do without formal schooling?” So they ask. This was the same question I asked myself back in high school. I never really wanted Mass Communication for a course, although I knew back then that I had an interest in it. So when I got into the College of Mass Communication, formerly School of Communication, I had to find ways to answer my own question.
All of us have our respective interests. A math champion in high school, no matter how much of a genius he thinks of himself, would likely pursue mathematics or engineering as a course in college. Someone who may seem to have memorized the volumes of Britannica in the library would likely pursue his or her interest in the sciences or history.
It is, therefore, about pursuing your interest. We take up mass communication not because we already know how to write, but, more importantly, because we want our writing to be of significant relevance to the community, to be direct or indirect shapers of public opinion towards social and political transformation, to be fillers of the gaps of misunderstanding, ignorance, and apathy.
Without generalizing though, while a non-mass communication student may be able to express perfectly in written or oral form his opinion of things or experiences in life, such may only be for personal consumption, glory, and fulfillment.
A mass communication student is one whose work he or she envisions to transcend personal glory. A mass communication student finds his or her fulfillment in how his or her work is being made with the purpose of making a difference in the lives of others. A mass communication student both mirrors the realities that exist and make those who contribute to the seeming perpetuity of such realities do something about them.
May it be the news that updates people of the predatory tactics of the crocodiles in government, or the feature stories on personalities, fashion, and the bitter-sweets of life that inspire or disgust us, or the commentaries that shake us to take part in government affairs and help realize how colorfully rotten our society is getting, the work of a mass communication practitioner is one that comes with a purpose and an impact on the lives of people. We seek to resuscitate the ones who are dead in contentment, apathy, and ignorance by making their heart pump again, their brain think again, and their body act again.
So did you make the right choice?
Yes, if you have enrolled in the College of Mass Communication with the thought of finding fulfillment in how your pen can be of service to others.
No, if you have enrolled in the College of Mass Communication with the thought of finding fulfillment in what your pen can do for you.
