by Elvin Seah (Singapore)
Extract from The Postal Service – Such Great Heights
They will see us waving from such great heights; “come down now!”, they’ll say..
but everything looks perfect from far away; “come down now!”, but we’ll stay
I come from a family where both my mom and dad each having their own small and cozy business, in food. It may sound weird but I’d always thought I had their genes in me – taking control in life and building something that’s worth believing in. Till a day recently I finally realize age has caught up with my parents; that after spending so much time in school it suddenly dawned upon me my mom has so much grey hair since the last time I really looked at her… it made me realize I actually need to take over their business one day maybe soon. It is a scary thought and it definitely is not something in my life that I had in control.
Call me a spoilt brat all you want but I needed to break out and I needed to build something that belongs to me, of it all – I need to build something that I believe in.
For the past months many of my peers have been asking ‘Elvin is this your last term?’ ‘Found a job yet? Where will you be going?’ I could not give an answer at all. But as the weeks unfold, it seems a haze of directions is starting to materialize – not surprisingly this actually came from the course Technological Entrepreneurship Opportunity Identification by Professor Pamela Lim. I started this course being curious about how entrepreneurship and technology interact and help me in my work; it turns out to be a Pandora box opened and shone a path where I could carve, a path where I could believe in, and a path that belongs to me.
I went through a number of hardships and obstacles along the weeks, they discouraged me, made me feel incapable and incompetent. I nearly gave up – some of my peers actually told me to not waste my time, save my health and spend more time on my other courses that probably looked better on my transcript.
I am glad I stayed on, I wanted to prove everyone that they’re wrong; that when I attended week 1’s lesson I had made the right choice by staying, I am glad; Sharon if you are reading this, without your encouragement and support I would have given up completely, thank you. It made me learn one thing important in life, something that really humbled me; that just because people have other roles to play does not mean they are not leaders. They are, and you taught me that…
As I persevered on, I thought about the team’s business again and again, and as the team progressed, it somehow convinced me to believe that with the right elements in place it is really promising when it takes flight. I was convinced, and I started to believe it could actually work. It finally dawned onto me this is something that I believe in and something that I’d want to build.
All in all, I do not dare proclaim that ‘I already know what I want to do in life’, but I am really glad that this course Technological Entrepreneurship Opportunity Identification had something for me to take away, something so valuable it may not be found in the other courses – a new path, and such path probably is carved for me only.
Thank you Prof.
