Beyond a Resume
 
 
 I often compare our life to a computer game when I have conversation with young students. In some computer games that I enjoy, I have no idea what will be coming next but one thing super clear is that I have to collect as many cards or items as possible to proceed to the next stage and to be on a favorable position.
 For most students, college would be the last place to prepare themselves as new professionals by establishing a solid foundation for their profession. As a pre-professional, how do you prepare yourself in college? What kind of cards or items are you collecting? Are you struggling for greater GPA and TOEIC scores? We have to accept that those are very important since they will be on your transcript and resume which will work as objective indicators of your ability in most job search process. However, those are forming only a very tiny part of you, a future professional.
 Last year, I taught a class for seniors who were in their last semester in college. I asked the students what would be things that college students needed to experience other than great GPA and language scores such as TOEIC score. A student mentioned frequent travels by taking advantage of various student discount opportunities. There is no need to state benefits of travel. And it would be much better with money saving, of course. Another student stressed that leadership training opportunities might be the most valuable experiences to be a professional and to take as many opportunities as possible. Training leadership has very diverse aspects to benefit your profession. By performing a leaders' role, you will learn how to set up priorities and work time- and cost-effectively, handle mental stress, manage conflict among team members, and take responsibilities. These are not something that you can easily obtain through an ordinary college life.      
 I would like to add one more aspect to the great points the seniors made. Train yourself to be a positive and active person. Positive energy attracts more people than negative one as you know. Rather than saying "no" in challenging situations, say "I will do my best to find a way." Try to think positive side of things and to improve the situation better until the very last moment. It would be even wonderful if you solve the problem. Keep in mind that, however, you do not need to be a problem-solver for everything every time so do not stress out yourself by expecting to be one.
 Your college life is short. Do your best to collect as many cards and items in every stage of your college life and be on the winner's position in the very near future.