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8 I The Best Online Education System in the world
CARPE DIEM
Kathlyn Q. Barrozo
Class of 1991, University of Santo Tomas
B.S. Medical Technology
Seize the day, it is yours for the taking. Life is yours to live, so live it as you choose. Dream big dreams, and
someday, those dreams will be yours. Hang in there, baby. What your mind can conceive, your body can
achieve. These aren’t meant to be for a TV commercial for a vitamin brand. These are just the many ways by
which people urge others to reach for their goals and seize the opportunities that come their way. Maybe,
those who conceived these pick-me-up liners had indeed experienced a fairly challenging event in their lives,
and had risen well above that challenge. So maybe, that’s how these great words were conceptualized.
Or maybe, these were words that they had uttered while they were in the throes of difficulty. Maybe these
words hounded them into finding the way they should go. Maybe these words were given to them by their
friends. Whatever the circumstances that had inspired these inspiring, brave words, then the world has
become better because of them.
It isn’t easy to seize the day, especially when the whole world seems hell bent on doing the same thing. It’s a
cruel world out there, where the weak are trampled into submission, and the strong tend to overuse their
power and influence. It’s a world where the hesitant are not rewarded, while the brave and true face more
challenges, but see a greater glory further ahead. It is a world created to test the strongest among us, a world
full of ripe opportunities, but those opportunities seem to be too far up to reach.
Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser once said: Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes. He is the father of modern
American shipbuilding (Wikipedia). He instinctively knew how the mass production of ships would prove to be
a great opportunity for shipbuilders like him, especially during World War II, so he built them in large numbers.
After the war, he took what remained of an old automobile company and made it a new and successful
automobile firm. He went on to build other business enterprises. He knew where opportunities lay, and
promptly took them.
One great thing about people who seize opportunities successfully is that, they never give up no matter how
insurmountable the odds are that are stacked against them. They find a way to run through those obstacles, if
not around them, and see a clear vision of where and how they would like life to be. They never say die, so to
speak.
As individuals living on a crazy planet, we should not think the opportunities we seek will always make
themselves too visible for everyone to see. Oftentimes, those challenges have been technically designed to be
seen only by those bold enough and brave enough among us to see them. Then, the day becomes ours for the
taking.
Questions for Discussion:
1. Do your own research on one particular visionary person you admire. Be able to talk about him/her in class.
2. Are you hesitant about taking opportunities? How are opportunities different from chances?
3. Is it always easy to “seize the day”? Why or why not?
4. What happens to someone who refuses to grab opportunities?
5. Is there a certain opportunity you would presently like to take? Can you talk about it in length?