Living to Learn

Sometimes I think the only valuable skill that I picked up from my university education is the ability to learn up a new subject fast. I studied at a local university where we only had to sit for one all-important exam at the end of the year.

I was never one who paid attention in class, even though I did attend most of the lectures. I would have scant lectures notes which served as rough guides to the subjects I took. I found lectures dull and tiresome. I spent most of my time exploring the library--and my alma mater has a pretty good one. The library was a vast universe of knowledge which I devoured greedily.

Like how I treat my job now, I often gave priority to the pursuit of my other interests--art, literature, philosophy, religion, poetry and science. I left the study of my compulsory subjects to the end of the year--right before my exams.

It was during those four years that I picked up the skill to learn up an entire course within one month. It was always one long suffering month--one filled with panic and anxiety bordering on the suicidal. Every minute and hour then would be spent buried in textbooks and in the frantic copying of missing lecture notes.

But over the years I had perfected the task to an art. I knew how to grasp the essentials of a subject and was able to chart a study plan which allowed me to peak just at the right time--ensuring all the relevant facts are "cached" in my memory the night before the exam.

In my present job as an IT professional, I often find myself in customer situations where I am forced to tackle subjects that I'm not familiar with. Often I have to present to tough audiences who will give me a tough grilling on the subject. But those university years of mine had trained me well; I am always prepared to tackle something new because I learnt how to learn.

There is no way that four years of university education or any amount of professional training can prepare one as a competent IT professional. Most of the things have to be learnt along the way, in a field which change is the only constant (pardon the cliche).

My fellow university mate and long-time colleague, Chua, often laments about the poor quality of engineers that we get these days. They often complain that they are not "trained" to do the tasks that they are asked to do. It is an attitude that perplexes us. How can one be "trained" for everything?

In the end, it is our ability to learn continuously that keeps us afloat. We never stop learning. There is no comfort zone where one could sink into and luxuriate for the rest of one's life. To live is to learn. And that is the only qualification that one needs in life.