Journal

Preparing for the Unknown

by: Anastasia Basuki (@bonananastasia) – January 24th, 2019

We are our own most valuable assets.

There's only so much we can do before nosediving into unknown waters – we're never sure of what's to come, at least not certainly; we can't guarantee results, but here's one thing we can do: we can predict. We may not have the ability to peer into the future, but we do have the ability to –somewhat– prepare ourselves for said future. And how can we best prepare for the unknown?

Cue the entrance of the five super skills.

Careers of the future will, most certainly not be the same as careers of the present. In this day and age, we have borne witness to major technological and industrial developments – more and more new fields are burgeoning as the world shifts gears. We have witnessed, and frankly, are currently witnessing the fall of industries that have failed to catch up with the rapidly evolving markets. Most importantly, however, we have witnessed, and are currently witnessing the rise of industries that are, in fact, a product of these markets – new industries are, more often than not, brought about to fulfill and empty gap in the business of commerce.

So it is imperative that we, as a generation of the future, are capable of adapting to unfamiliar situations. An important part of developing this flexibility is mastery of the five super skills: having a personal brand, digital fluency, a tribe, the ability to make sense of complexity, and last but not least, resilience.

These super skills were especially emphasized during Career Day, which took place on January 24th, 2019. I'd attended two sessions, one being on careers in medicine and the other being on business/economics. Regardless, both sessions seem to highlight the importance of the five skills, namely branding, networking (building a tribe), and resilience. These three particular skills are continuously brought up as the guestspeakers spoke and shared with us their own stories of personal growth.

First was branding. Mr. Graeme Howell of the 'careers in medicine' panel discussed the gravity of personal branding – how do you want yourself to be seen? Mr. Howell elaborated by recounting his teenage years as a young man who sought to present himself as an ambitious and committed individual, money-driven as he was. As time progressed, however, Mr. Howell slowly realized the implications of this personality he'd established for himself, ultimately leading to him changing his image and personal brand to reflect a more well-rounded, selfless member of society whose greatest motive was to serve his community, and Mr. Howell did so by adopting the role of a first-responder.

Second was networking. Keynote speaker Christine Bader along with Mr. Alex Knecht of the 'business/economics' panel addressed this skill very well. Ms. Bader and Mr. Knecht underlined the significance of networking, otherwise known as building a tribe, by providing instances where their own close-knit "tribes" had helped them seek and solidify a career path. So yes, good networking may help one land a few job offers.

Third was resilience. This was accentuated by Mr. Sayan Gulino, a member of the 'business/economics' panel. Mr. Gulino had mentioned the multiple times he'd not only endured failure, but the challenges of having climbed his way from the bottom to the very top of his company. It's of the utmost importance that resilience is built and instilled from the days of youth to ensure that future failures and hurdles do not hinder determination and perseverance; failure is a learning opportunity – learn and grow from your mistakes. There is no success without failure.

So, why are we even here?

by: Anastasia Basuki (@bonananastasia) – August 10th, 2018

The future has several names. For the weak, it is impossible; for the fainthearted, it is unknown; but for the valiant, it is ideal.

– Victor Hugo

"Why are we here? What are we even learning in this class?"

This question was thrown into our faces on the first week back. Slightly confused, we glanced at each other, shrugged, and replied, "Well, we're learning English."

Surely, it was a rhetorical question, right? I mean, obviously. What else would we be learning in English class?

Oh, oh, oh. Nope.

It's not that simple. It never was that simple. 🤔We weren't wrong, but we weren't quite right either; we'd made the mistake of generalizing the reasoning behind the existence of an English course into, "wE'Re jUsT LEaRNiNg eNgLisH.".

The thing is, English class isn't limited to learning the technicalities of the language; we aren't strictly bound to the language itself. Frankly, nowadays, it leans more towards how we can utilize the language to further our self-expression. We study the art of communication. We study the different mediums and manners of communication and social interaction. Such a skill is definitely an essential; communication is the key to success. Those who are unable to communicate effectively are confined to their own selves, hence hindering their networking, self-expression, and inclusion in communities.

Communication skills help you build and maintain relationships, be it personal or work-related, the latter of which ties in closely with the establishment of an effective team. Leadership requires an overflowing abundance of high-level communication skills! Tasks like providing clear sets of instructions, reminding fellow team members of their responsibilities, setting expectations, and even boosting the members' morales, are part of the leadership package, and these will definitely be enhanced by proficient and effective commincation skills. James Humes, formerly a presidential speechwriter, went as far as stating, "The art of communication is the language of leadership."

Of course, that's the more direct aim of English class. An indirect aim would be preparation in terms of organization and really, self-management in general. I suppose this is an indirect aim that is somewhat present within all of the classes we attend. Another indirect aim that is shared by most of the classes here is the development of our digital fluency, which is distinctly highlighted through the encouraged everyday use of personal devices (namely laptops) for educational purposes.

The building-up of resiliency along with our abilities to make sense of complex situations (problem solving and versatility/flexibility) are both skills worth mentioning as well. In fact, the three skills –including digital fluency– are part of the five "super skills" that are deemed necessary for future occupations. These skillsets are discussed thoroughly by Stephanie Vozza, the writer of an article titled, 'These are the 5 “super skills” you need for jobs of the future'. Feel free to take a gander!

So, just to outline, what are some key skills I can obtain or perhaps even improve through this class? Given my explanation above, I'm sure it won't take an overwhelming amount of brain power to figure things out.

Well, communication skills is a major one! Duh! Otherwise, amongst the obvious would be improved writing, reading, analyzing/interpreting, and even verbal-communication/speaking skills. These are all very beneficial skillsets we can acquire from and refine in English class.

Anyhow, the past few days, the class had also begun a discussion in relations to the future of millennials – us. The discussion concepts like behaviour/attitude, work ethics, and social environments. So we talked about how communication plays a significant role in each of these things, especially when it comes down to our social environment.

Communication enables us to reach out and either create or join communities, also occasionally referred to as "tribes". This is largely due to the creation and presentation of our own personal brand which is, unsurprisingly, heavily reliant on the level of communication skills we possess individually.

Already, we are part of various different "tribes", mostly thanks to the existence of social media. According to Nathan McDonald, an article writer for WeAreSocial, "There are now more than 4 billion people around the world using the internet."

That's at least half of the world's population, wired to the web. We are able to initiate connections with people who are physically on the opposite end of this giant, blue (and green) marble. We are able to establish ourselves online, and here's where personal branding is key.

Mind, everything we do on the web is tracked and stored as our digital footprints, and those? Those linger.

Watch your steps, peeps. Better think it through before doing and only later, feeling the useless wave of remorse.

But! Going back to myself now: how am I currently building my personal brand and "tribe"? Well, I'd say a social media platform that I find myself using on a regular basis is Twitter. I have two accounts, one for personal purposes –more like fangirling purposes, if I'm being really honest– and the other, for educational purposes. The latter was created during one our English class sessions, with the main intention of providing a base for our class "tribe". Otherwise, I also use applications such as Instagram, Facebook, and very rarely, Snapchat, to further promote my personal brand.

Alright, time to wrap this entry up.

We are children of a millenial generation and we will be prepared for the future that is to come. Everything we've been doing –and will be doing– is a form of preparation to culminate and refine valued skillsets which is likely to benefit us when it is our time to mature into responsible adults. The work industry has been and will continue to evolve, the values of different skillsets are continuously shifting, and we'll never truly understand the needs of the future until it's in our faces. This is inevitable, however, the years of enduring the IB programme, abiding by the IB Learner Profiles, and developing our Approaches To Learning (ATL) skills, grooms us for that exact situation.

We are given the fundamentals, and it's up to us how we work with it.

On a side-note, here's a Jeff Goldblum quote that I found particularly motivational,

"We all march to the beat of our own avocado."

Cheers,

Anastasia

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