How to Spend the Summer Connecting the Dots

By: Anna Hanooman- Marketing Manager, St. Helen University & Oma Sewhdat- President, St. Helen University

In his famous Stanford University 2005 Commencement speech Steve Jobs outlined three stories from his life in the hope that they could provide inspiration to a future generation. In this article, we draw reference from the message behind his story about “Connecting the Dots.” In short, every action we take in life is a dot, a step toward our future and we must choose/draw our dots wisely and stay focused because it is only in looking back that we would see the pattern we drew for our futures.

As summer approaches, students opt to spend their free time lazing in the warm days of summer, working at part time jobs or taking life experience trips to exotic destinations. Very rarely do students use this time to plan for their futures, pursue career goals or even further their study. After all, being young is about being free right? Well the answer is relative to what you want out of your life.

At St. Helen University, we embrace innovation and therefore, encourage the younger generation to invest in their futures by building a strong network of friends and acquaintances for they will serve as advisors and pillars of strength in the future. Today, it is as much about what you can do, as it is about what you know. So we encourage those students who choose to work, to involve themselves in jobs that can provide them with valuable experience and exposure to fields of potential career interest and thirdly; as the architects of future medical professionals; we encourage students to identify academic skill gaps that could hinder them in getting admitted to their program of choice at university, and use the summer to bridge the gaps. Back to Steve Jobs and the dots, it is always wise to be looking a few dots ahead. Young people who do that often end up getting what they want out of life and leading the others.

The old adage states that the mind is a terrible thing to waste. So our advice to the upcoming generations is to begin drawing dots by investing in your futures during the cool, lazy days of summer.