Hi 5: 30 January 2015 by Mr Koh Kuan Chien

Good morning Mdm Tan, Mr Lee, Mr Tan, Colleagues and Gessians:

Today is the last day of ECG career fair. As Ms Ow Yong shared during this week Take 5, the aim of ECG is to expose Gessians in exploring possible career options through short and impactful career talks by professional working adults. This week, you have visited different booths put up by different Polytechnics, attended talks delivered by representatives in different industries such as CAAS, IDA, MOH and even a radio programmer.

The purpose of ECG is to help students make decisions based on their interests, abilities and passion, while considering current and future career opportunities. So what have you learned in ECG? What do you want to do in your future?

We’ve all heard of the following before: “Do what you love.” “Follow your passion.” “Find a job that you would do for free.”

Yet “passion” is one of those concepts that are difficult to explain, hard to find and impossible to measure. It’s something that’s unique to each of us, with no one scale to determine it or map to guide us to it.

Following a passion is liberating, but with liberation comes responsibility. As exciting as liberation may sound, some of us may not necessarily be ready for the responsibility that comes with liberation. As much as we embrace freedom, some of us also seek the comfort of guidance. In order to discover our passion and unlock that freedom, we need some direction and a better understanding of what we are looking for.

What is Passion?

Your calling in life may be something you are born knowing, but it may also be something you discover over time. We all know the person who knew back in high school they would be a doctor, teacher or a dentist. They were fortunate enough to discover their calling at a young age and carry it with them going forward. For most of us, however, we may acquire such an understanding throughout our lives rather than at a young age.

Passion is something that will stem from your beliefs, be enhanced by your skills and sustained by the value that you are able to provide.

What you are passionate about will depend largely on the particular phase in your life. Yes, this means we can breathe easy knowing that there is more than one dream job for us out there!

If you have not found your calling yet, don’t worry. When you do recognize it, it will come at the right time. When you do find your passion, I hope you will not bemoan the fact that you did not discover it sooner, as the passion you discover today may not be what you would have desired a decade ago. The knowledge you have acquired over this time is what will enable you to recognize the right opportunity when it comes your way.

Here are some steps to discover your passion:

Make Something out of the Time in Your Study
Learn, learn, learn! Take advantage of this time to advance your skills, try new things and confront any fears you have. You have nothing to lose but a lot to gain as you prepare for your next role.

Submerse Yourself
When you find a path you want to pursue, go for it. Attend career fairs, ask lots of questions and jump on any opportunity that will get you some exposure. You will never know if this is your passion unless you take risks and dive right in.

Master a Skill
Most people are better able to hone in on their passion after they’ve mastered a skill in a particular industry; when you have a high level of competence, it raises your confidence, increases satisfaction and enables you to forge your own path. Mastering a certain skill may be spark you need to get going.

I would like to end off this morning’s High 5 with a quote from Oprah Winfrey. She said “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

I hope all of you will continue to have a passion for learning in school.

Onward!

Thank you!