YOUR VOICE
Live life to the full
JERRIN CHANDAN
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College students should come out of their shell and build useful relationships
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“Life is a war, fight it; Life is an opportunity, make use of it; and Life is an ice-cream, eat it before it melts” said Mother Teresa. If you walked into a college just to get out with a degree in hand to buy a job outside, think again!
Thousands of MBA rank holders, IT professionals and managers are being asked to quit their job out of the blue. If you entered a college just to ‘pass out’ of it, let me tell you, you are no different from 90 per cent of the students in the colleges. But it takes courage to ‘live through’ the college life. We need to enjoy every day with confidence, lest we feel “if only I get one more chance, I will do better.” This is the worst feeling that one can ever have. A feeling of regret mixed with frustration. So live it once, and fully.
No second chance
Life does not provide us with a second chance. Today’s technology has made it difficult for us to live our college life. Half the students bury themselves in mobile phones and I-pods, when there are thousands of students around to make friends with and to build relationships. We don’t realise that once out of college, we will never get such a chance.
We must come out of our shell and meet people, know their ideologies and views, or else remain as ‘koopa manduka’ (frog in the well). Getting a distinction is not the thing, building one’s character is what matters. Friends are those priceless treasures who can help us achieve this.
There used to be time when students spent time chatting, playing and frolicking together. But today, half of us rush for tuition classes and the rest either to watch our favourite TV shows or to kill time in Internet cafes after the class. Today it is all the more important to build a strong relationship to fight the destructive forces that are threatening to tear our country apart by creating a division among us.
Responsibility
Let me assure you there is no better place than college to achieve this purpose. Today, educational institutions and colleges in particular should understand the strange responsibility that is given to them to help students meet each other and to have greater interaction among themselves. Lots of group activities and projects should be encouraged in the classes. Extra-curricular activities and inter-college fests should be made compulsory.
It’s not surprising to know that many students do not know about others in their class except for their particular friends. The students also should be helped to understand their role as ‘young citizens.’ The whole focus of our education should aim at building a better society. Choose the way you want to live thorough your college life. Don’t just float with the stream. “All my life I had to choose between love and hatred; I chose love and I am here before you” are the words of A.R Rehman who made it to the Oscars with only talent in hand. Let’s choose to live a better life and to form a better world.
(The writer is a final year B.A. student of St. Aloysius College, Mangalore)
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