GUIDANCE PLUS
Success without the tears
AFP
Lady luck plays a decisive role in lotteries, but not in competitive examinations. Photo: AFP
EDUCATION, WHICH is a philosopher's stone that transforms any metal into gold, has a key role in the formation of personality. A well-educated person is treated with respect in any society; the type of knowledge or skill appreciated depends on the perspective of society. Education is a great institution that upholds values and not just represents fragments of knowledge.
Great ideas, indeed. However, for most of us, education is an instrument that helps secure a job. This is the prime reason for professional courses being the focus of young aspirants. If medicine, engineering or computer science courses attract more students than those in history or philosophy as subjects of study, it is because of the firm belief that these professional avenues offer brighter prospects for jobs. As we know, no subject is superior or inferior to any other.
In developing countries, such as India, vacancies of jobs are fewer and aspirants many, in most sectors of employment. This naturally leads to a severe rush of applicants for even very few vacancies. Consequently, severe competition arises. For example, let us look at the numbers in respect of the Civil Services Examination held annually by the Union Public Services Commission for selection of candidates to the Indian Foreign Service, Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and so on. The chance for selection is often just 0.1 per cent. Some youngsters may feel that there is no point in taking part in competitions of this kind, since the success rate is extremely low. But we should bear in mind that such an attitude is not congenial to an effective job search.
In the first place, we should remember that those who clear the examination and enter the services are people like us. We are also endowed with most of the qualities possessed by successful candidates. Perhaps, they do the ordinary things the extraordinary way and reach the top. If so, why cannot we too adopt such a strategy?
Winning points
What are the extraordinary ways? There is no magic formula. The winners are well organised. They manage their time intelligently. They focus on the right things at the right time. They choose the optional subjects carefully, in tune with their aptitude. They select the most useful books and journals. They make use of the most effective learning and examination strategies. They hold their own test rehearsals. They plan their work and work their plan. They break the shell of laziness and work hard, with a specific goal in view. They get training in interview techniques. They take lessons from those who were successful in the previous examinations, follow the right strategies, and learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. In other words, they optimise their time and talent, and engage themselves in goal striving with an optimistic frame of mind and self-confidence. They maintain a positive mental aptitude. We can also adopt these extraordinary ways and succeed. There is no shortcut to success and no substitute for hard work.
Secondly, we have to keep in mind another vital aspect in preparing for competitions. Let us assume for a moment that we fail in a competitive test. Is it a total loss for us? Have all our efforts in preparing for it resulted in a total wastage of time and effort? The answer to this question is an emphatic `no.' Why? It is true that we failed in achieving the immediate goal. Success and failure are opposites only in the language class. We can convert failures into opportunities. If we analyse our failures, identify their reasons, learn lessons from them, and avoid repetition of such failures in future, we are in the right track towards success.
Inspiration from Columbus
We may say that we failed like Columbus. The great mariner set sail from Europe in the hope of reaching the Indian coast and gathering pepper, ginger and other spices to be carried to his homeland. He miserably failed as a businessman in realising his dream of the `Enterprise of the Indies,' as he called his plan. But was it a total failure for Columbus? No. In fact, he made a marvellous success, in his epic discovery of the lands such as Watling Island (San Salvador), Hispaniola, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica and South America. The name of Christopher Columbus will echo and re-echo in the corridors of history as long as man survives on this planet.
What is the relevance of the story of Columbus to our discussion on competitive examinations? Imagine for a moment that we failed in a competitive test. The knowledge and skills we gained through hard work for the preparation for one test will certainly come to our assistance in other competitions that we encounter in the future. This is the sound logic in attempting to prepare for the Civil Services Examination or other similar competitions, where the success rate is low. Columbus is a great source of inspiration.
Read morecolumns by the author online at www.hinduonnet.com/edu
B.S. Warrier
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