If
there is no joy, ease, or lightness in what you are doing, it does not
necessarily mean that you need to change what you are doing. It may be
sufficient to change the how.
Eckhart
Tolle
I had an assignment for my Business Opportunities in Engineering class to read a book written by my professor and analyze which of the lessons of that book had already influenced any important aspect of my life. The book is called Seeking the Edge; it is a great book about the life and success. Its
main idea is clear – if you want to reach your goals, you just need to look for
“a fine line that separates excellence from mediocrity”, and then the success
is very possible. I’d like to comment on some “lessons” of the section Character, which helped me to
understand, why I am an Engineer.
Give it a chance. This is what I told myself when I was
applying for a presidential scholarship “Bolashak” that financially covered one
year of English language and four years of Undergraduate degree classes abroad.
“Bolashak” is the most prestigious scholarship of our country sponsored by our
President, and to receive it, you have to pass certain criteria, exams and
interviews. I was happy to be one of the recipients of this stipend; however,
there was a thing that bothered me – a limited choice of majors that were
offered by the program. In fact, the only majors I could choose were
Engineering and Science majors. I decided to give a chance to Electrical
Engineering. It was the quickest decision I have ever made. At that time I was
reading a book “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell, where he said that the biggest
decisions of your life, like choosing career, spouse, house, are made quicker than when you are choosing
little things like pictures or clothing because you don’t have enough
information for judgment, and only rely on your feelings. So, I felt I made a good decision and I
didn’t think much about the consequences because I was very excited about the
changes. I just gave it “a wholehearted, fair chance”.
After a great year
of English Language and Orientation Program at Boston University, I went to
Pennsylvania State University, where I was accepted to the Electrical
Engineering program. From the very first days I realized that my major takes a
lot of time, and I barely get time for myself, for my friends, for making new
friends, for fun and hobbies. The first year seemed like a struggle, since I
was not used to such classes like physics, calculus, computer science, computer
engineering, etc. because in middle and high schools in Kazakhstan I
specialized on English and German languages and Russian literature. However, I
knew that hard things get easy with practice, and since I wanted to be
successful I needed to develop right attitude towards the current situation. Like
in the book “Seeking the edge” it is well-said that a “successful person never
gives up…This person is always doing his/her best regardless of the situation.
Who knows what’s around the corner? Who knows who is coming in the door next?” I
thought, if you are not challenging yourself, challenges will be eventually
"sent" to you in an unexpected way, in unexpected situations. I
worked on myself. The work based not only on studying much, but on developing a
right attitude, a balance of body, mind and spirit. I tried to discipline my
mind by regular meditations; to keep my body healthier I joined yoga and Tai
chi clubs. I worked on my patience and did exactly as it is described in the
“Seeking the edge”: “Make the best use of each moment in conversation, reading,
writing, thinking, or observing everything around us…Be patient! Just stop and
smell the flowers or listen to some beautiful music. Let’s learn from others.
Be patient and do the right thing”. Eventually, with "failures" and
"successes", I saw that I can easily find time for all the
opportunities offered by my major and student life. Classes seemed easy and I
could also employ my communication skills and imagination in such classes like
engineering design, design tools, public speaking, etc.
Right now it is a
second semester when I’m taking major classes and I realized that I learned how
to enjoy them. I’m very grateful to all the opportunities of my life that led
me to “now”. I took a chance, it was hard, but I never gave up, I learned through
patience, and now I’m able to take a closer look and appreciate all that I
have. Everyone would agree that Electrical Engineering is not an easy major,
and not everyone will be able to understand all the concepts. Being the one who
understands and enjoys is a nice feeling. Now I also see that being able to
deal with stress produced by unknown “uncomfortable” situations is a great
skill. Usually people get stressed, when they are resisting the present. They
experience the stress which is not caused by the events but from their view of
those events. My “freshman year” stress was produced by my high expectations
and my attachment to the results. It is always better to give more attention to
doing than to the fruit of your action, which will imply that you completely
accept the present moment, because you cannot fully focus and at the same time
resist it. When you are accepting, life begins to flow with joy and ease.
Here is another good statement that I have
read in the “Seeking the Edge”: “Quite often, if we are trying to take a closer
look or gaze into a microscope, the work efforts and the tasks associated with
some adventure, desire, or problem solution could actually become quite simple.
You must go beyond the first impression or the first look. The edge is in
determination to take a closer look. Many times, we are overwhelmed with the
thoughts, or what might be involved, for example, to climb a mountain or to
carry out a particular project or to study a specific subject. If attack the
problem in a step by step fashion, however, and look into the microscope for
the next small step, we may find out that the work efforts aren’t so bad.
Pursuit can lead to prolonged happiness”. Everything that I read in the book
sounded very familiar and I had a feeling I already knew it!!! It is a pleasant
and satisfying feeling.
