Letter to new students

Dear new students,

University has always been a new chapter, a new journey, a new milestone in a person's life. You are here, and that means you have achieved a new milestone on your life's journey. Congratulations.

However, 21st-century universities are now the new normal, meaning that simply entering university and obtaining a degree does not guarantee you will find a job, integrate into an uncertain future, or succeed in a startup. Ultimately, a university is just a channel for receiving information, and sometimes even a slower channel compared to self-learning. A 21st-century university should be, and only is, a place to provide you with a foundation for critical thinking, to enable you to think for yourself, a place to teach you how to solve problems (and you must solve them yourself), and a place to provide you with an environment for learning (and you must learn on your own). Don't rely on the university, don't just blindly read materials and "learn" in the traditional, outdated, passive way. That's the most effective way to waste time. Think of university as a boat, a journey to take you to new and unfamiliar shores that you can discover for yourself.

As this month marks the beginning of a new journey, and since so many schools have asked me to share my thoughts with new students during the opening ceremony but I've had to decline due to lack of time, I'm writing this letter to all of you with my best wishes. I would also like to take this opportunity to share three things that will serve as guidance for you as you begin your new journey today.

DON'T JUST STUDY AT UNIVERSITY, STUDY FOR LIFE.

I'm an "unconventional" person, so for me, 21st-century learning has been redefined, especially at the intersection of major global shifts like globalization, Industry 4.0, and planetary-level risks like the recent pandemic. This intersection has created an extremely uncertain future; no one knows what will happen, and it's becoming increasingly uncertain with the rapid pace of change brought about by new inventions and daily advancements in science and technology. When humans can begin space travel, build hyperloop trains to shorten travel time to 10-20%, when AI and robots are contributing more hours of labor than humans, when humans naturally have to carry digital weapons to work in the accelerating digital transformation, etc., what chance does traditional schooling have of keeping up? Which school or class can keep up with these daily and hourly changes? Who can create a new lesson plan every week? But otherwise, would we be learning only outdated, unupdated things?

Therefore, learning is your responsibility, not the school's. Universities only provide opportunities for better self-learning, where you can have friends and teachers to debate, exchange ideas, brainstorm, and create. That's all! Learning itself is about self-study, learning from multiple sources, and understanding that it's a lifelong endeavor. As you go about your work and venture out, if you find something lacking, fill it in immediately, and supplement it with the most up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills from around the world. The greatest university is life. In real-world environments, people learn the fastest and most effectively. Going to university is fine. Not going to university is also fine, as long as you understand that learning is a lifelong process, learning anytime, anywhere, from many sources and people, and learning what's necessary to apply immediately to real life.

LEARN TO MANAGE YOURSELF FIRST

There's a universal absurdity: humans learn all sorts of things—management, control, and so on—but they can't control or manage their own bodies. Humankind has become accustomed to autopilot—operating like an automated system. An event triggers a fuse. The fuse activates danger. The brain seizes control, searches its database for similar events, records how we reacted and felt, and then forces us to react according to a pre-existing pattern. Therefore, humans experience joy, anger, love, and hatred—reacting momentarily, often without knowing why. So, how are we any different from robots? This also means that all emotions—sadness, confusion, anger, suffering, low self-esteem, etc.—are created by your automated system, forcing you to feel those emotions, act that way, and go through life that way. This is also why, in the context of 80%, people constantly tackle trivial problems in life that don't need solving, wasting time, effort, and energy for no apparent reason. This is also why many young people, even after graduating from university, struggle to integrate into the workforce, because their work involves solving relationship-related problems that they've never learned about.

Therefore, no matter what you study or do, the first, most fundamental, and most basic thing is to learn how to manage yourself, so that you don't fall into a state of passiveness, reacting ignorantly, or operating automatically like a drone. Once you learn this ability, problems in your life and career will disappear without needing to be solved. Then you will be at ease, free, and comfortable, free to focus on creativity, enjoy life, and do more meaningful, mission-oriented things. Of course, unless you enjoy the feeling of drifting aimlessly through life without knowing where your destiny lies.

STUDY LESS, DO MORE

I'm sorry, but these days you can find anything you want to read or learn on Google. Books are available in paper form, e-books, and more. So please, stop sitting neatly in class listening to lectures and taking notes. 21st-century learning is about doing, learning through projects, learning through trial and error, learning from real-world applications with real users. Learning is about participation, getting your hands dirty, jumping in to do the work, and realizing that reality is light-years away from theory. If I could advise, I'd suggest universities and students only spend time on the 50% program, and instead create real projects for them to work on. Only by doing will you understand why you need to learn. Only by doing will you know that learning is easy, but doing is hard. Only by actually doing will you realize that countless other factors influence success, not just a few general ideas.

Doing is the driving force that motivates us to search, research, learn better, be more proactive, and be more passionate in finding solutions to the real-world problems we face. Doing helps bridge the gap between the university environment and the workplace, reducing the shock for students when they truly enter the real world and a work environment that is vastly different from their rosy student dreams. But don't wait for the university to create opportunities for you. Be proactive in seeking out and participating in social and community projects, volunteer for internships at companies and startups, etc., to get involved in a real-world environment. If your university has a startup incubation program, don't hesitate to join, because there you will learn extremely practical knowledge and skills.

"Study less, work more" is the most honest advice I can give you, helping you better prepare yourselves for integration into the workforce while still in school.

These three pieces of advice, I hope you will carry them with you on your journey into university, and remind yourself often to avoid falling into the habit of simply drifting along like water hyacinths. I hope you will rethink your university journey. I hope you will choose a different approach to your future. And I sincerely hope you will build your career path from the very first days you tentatively step through the university gates.

Congratulations and best wishes to you all!

Author: Pham Phan - Date written: October 18, 2021

Category: College 9+, News - Events