Education is not only to get job or to become an entrepreneur. Ideally, it should improve our thought process. In changing scenario of industry with automation, role of employee is expanded and challenging, we need to prepare ourselves at higher education level to become a good human being who will think for others, been sensitive towards society, then it will bound to have good, successful career with sense of achievement & happiness. If all of us start taking efforts in this direction, it would contribute in making our society more civilized geared up with sustainable development.
So what should student focus during the college life?
- Vision
It is said, “All have eyes but very few have vision.” You must dream and take efforts what you want to achieve, where you want to be yourself. “Success gets two times, once in your mind and second in real world” (Mr. Azim Premji, Indian entrepreneur). Student must imagine the position, place where they want to be, may be like I am sitting in my own corporate office and handling my organization. As oxygen is necessary for life, so the vision is must for success, one of the best example of vision is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who imagine the independent state & even the enemies from all four sides could able to establish Maratha Empire.
- Determination:
Determination is the firm or fixed intension to achieve a desired end. The students should be determined about what they want. “There is no free lunch.” Nothing comes easy and without obstacles. If you are firm and confident, nothing can stop you from achieving your goal. Mr. Amitabh Bacchan, the millennium star, quoted as one man industry & still winning the minds of audiences at the age of 75. There was a time when a number of his films were flopped. He was rejected by many people. After few years, his production house tanked. Eventually, it led to its financial & operational collapse in 1997. Other example is J. K. Rowling, an author, the creator of the Harry Potter series, with an estimated fortune of £560 Million. She became ‘the twelfth richest woman’ in the UK. Even she had faced struggle in her life when she was diagnosed with clinical depression & contemplated suicide.
(http://www.storypicks.com/inspirational-real-life-stories/)
- Social Sensitization:
Basis of our Indian culture is equality, all are similar having one soul, others are like me only, if I get hurt by something, others also get hurt, so we should think before doing any act.
Human beings are social by nature. Naturally, you need people to share your happiness, sadness and emotions. We should help each other in every possible manner improving the quality of life for each other. Like rights, we do have to perform our duties. So we should get involved in social activities, visit to the orphanage home, villages and must experience how people are living. After knowing the pains of others such as farmers, poor, needy, you would realize how fortunate you are and thank God and parents for same. We should give back to society. Albert Einstein said, “Student should be taught for social awareness, sensitization.”
- Patience:
A student needs to be patience. You should win your mind first with patience. Only then, you can rule the world. Patience works like the steam of an engine which keeps pulling it but when it is free it doesn’t have any power. Patience with simplicity gives better results. The great leaders like Lenin had very simple diet. Mahatma Gandhi used to eat only five things. We should act like a tortoise to take the legs outside the shell for grabbing opportunities and take inside in case of danger. There is time of everything to happen, so we need to be patient. Think about your parents and others while taking any decision. It should not trouble others. Patience equally required while studying as a lifelong skill.
- Confidence:
‘I can do’ is your confidence & ‘I am the only who can do it’ is overconfidence.
Self-belief is very important. You will find many people who were average in academic but are more successful with their strong belief system. Some of them are Steve Jobs, Sachin Tendulkar. Identify your talent, everyone is good at something. Discover your skills, talents and excel in it. Focus on positive things than negative. The corporate firms prefer confident students as they might take less time to train them. Therefore, we can improve our confidence level. Knowledge coined with practice can boost your confidence level. Some of the best ways to increase your confidence are: participating in debates, Quiz, elocution and other competitions; involve in extracurricular activities, do small projects and working in groups.
- Communication Skill:
You can win the world if you are effective communicator. Communication skills are very important from career perspective. We 
need to interact with strangers, officials & seniors. Therefore, we must acquire good communication skills. They help in problem-solving, effective decision-making, leadership development, team-work etc. English is one of the professional languages. But it should not restrict us in thinking, expressing, many of us think in our mother tongue. The new idea first comes in thinking & then in realistic way. Don’t get scared of language. The developed countries like Germany, Japan have proved that they use their mother tongue in professional studies and made remarkable progress in technology, business, innovation etc.
But we should improve in professional language with time by various means like be a good listener, speak less & effective, make small sentences, read English novels, speak confidently with your teachers, friends, there are number of courses available to improve, slowly & with patience we can improve. Remember that good communication also leads to high confidence and hence you perform better at whatever you are doing. (https://youtu.be/X3Fz_Gu5WUE)
- Participation:
Ample of opportunities are available while you are in a college which gives you chance to sharpen, improve your personal skill from the carrier perspective, like extracurricular, sports, curricular activities, conferences, etc. where you have chance to make mistakes and learn, which professional life might not give. When you participate in college activities you get confidence that you can do it, handle the situation. First start with small things and then move to big things. Observe your seniors, you will find that student with good participation have got early breaks. Participation can teach you how to work in a team, coordinate with others, get thing done. There are life-skills. Going ahead, organizations are focusing on automation, artificial intelligence wherein multitasking is required. Your leadership skills matter. It’s said that one who perform the small things in better way will gets a chance to do big things. Moreover, it gives you happiness, making new friends, cherishing long-lasting memories and gaining technical knowledge.
- Innovation:
Learn from your past, live in present, trust in future & most important thing is “why” producing in your mind never let it go. -- Albert Einstein. This ‘why’ is basis of innovation. Creativity doesn’t mean only the scientific or mechanical innovation. You can find the new way of doing business, improving performances and solving the problems. In order to work smarter, creative thinking is essential. When you think innovatively, it becomes very easy to beat competition, meet changing customer needs. Bill Gate, Steve Jobs made the innovative products and now their firms are performing well in the market. Paytm made the revolution in Indian Digital Payment area. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj established Maratha Empire with limited resources by innovative Gorilla War techniques & innovation in artillery.
- Make the course interesting:
Respective field knowledge is primarily important from career perspective. The knowledge makes you confident. We should make our subjects interesting by focusing on conceptual learning, simplify and relate them with daily, real-life situations, try to identify meaning of words in the concept which make it easy to understand, develop critical thinking, how it will be used to solve the problems.
“We want education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.” -- Swami Vivekanand.
Learning is not only getting knowledge but preparing for the life itself. Career is not the only aspect, its part of our life. We should prepare ourselves to tackle the problems coming our ways of life. We must aim high, give time and take relentless efforts to achieve your goals. During student stage, you can make mistake and there are well wishers who will support you and teach you, so that you may make less mistake in professional life and learn. Therefore, learn, grow and help others to make the journey of your life memorable!!
Dr. Sanjay J. Kshirsagar
Principal, MET's Institute of Pharmacy