Someone asked me a couple of days ago, where do I see myself in 10 years time?

While it is really a typical question, to that was a really hard one. If one could dig out my blog entries 2 years ago, one would probably see the answer right there. But right now, it has evolved to become a question where I'm no longer in the position to answer. Perhaps the only answer I can give now is, get married and have kids? hahaha~

I could totally recall the day when I decided to switch to EE from my initial ChE. That spark of inspiration, that surge of motivation and that burst of ambitions... all have set the direction of my life. But somehow, they seemed to have faded away into the shadows as I learnt more and more about EE, or engineering in general.

The entire business about engineering is far more complex than what I have initially thought. Specializing in one field is rarely sufficient to achieve anything. What determines the success of a product now is no longer a single person's effort. It is a team effort. Perhaps what I needed to realize my dreams is not a specialty in the major field my dreams require, as it is not the only field that is needed, but a field where I can pool together the combined efforts of like-minded people to achieve what I want. I can recall hearing this from my Dean's Leadership Class, about which do you think is greater, a leader or a technologist? Of course it's the former.

So, presently, what are my goals? I really can't say for sure now. What I am hoping for is to find a job here in US. PowerMation is perhaps the company I'm looking forward to work for right now, if not 3M. The former deals with matching of products to demands. They do not design products at all, and this is perhaps the kind of training I need most. And perhaps this is the kind of work I'm worst at. To keep it short, this work entails EE knowledge, but act as a sales agent. My dreams do not require me to design any technical things from scratch. I use what the market has to offer to transform my ideas to reality.

Whether this is going to succeed or not, I do not know. But what I do know is that I still have a lot to learn if I were to enter this field. Linguistic skills, Persuasion Power, Delegation, Motivation, decisiveness, everything a leader has, I don't. And to make things worse, I'm the one who abhors literature and all those argument readings. Oh well, I just got to learn how to list my points and argue better next time.

Comparison with others is always something one should abstain, but I always inevitably fall for it. Not that I really want to, in fact, I always consciously tell myself not to, but it just comes. Anyway, the point that's suppose to get through is even if he is better than you at this point in time, it doesn't mean you can't succeed or be as good, if not better too. The person you have to compare yourself with is yourself. As long as you stay true to my dreams, you will eventually reach your destination. Moreover, if he is doing something extraordinary right now, it doesn't mean that you are totally inferior. What you have been doing is going to aid you to your own success, and he did not go through what you have. Moreover, Success is unique to everyone, no one can steal it from you. That is the reason why comparisons are often invalid - everyone's path and experiences are different and there really is no basis of comparison.

Oh well, as for me, I guess I'd just leave my long term goals aside for a moment. What I have to do now is to focus and excel at the tasks at hand. If one thinks too far ahead, one may just miss a step and lose everything all together. Remember, always do one thing at a time, and do it well!

一失足成千古恨. It was really a mistake on my part not to have gotten any interns in my first summer with singtel. Now I'm at the disadvantaged when looking for a job. I pray to God for everything to work out fine. There are 2 things which I have asked God about and I really really hope that they would come true. I thank you.