Does Learning End After Graduation?

Congratulations to all the graduates of 2012!  Now you are ready to work and apply what you have learned in college.  I advise you to have the attitude of diligence in learning.

There is this anecdote I have read in a book about a young man who, right after the commencement exercises, rushed outside and shouted: “Here I am, world!  I have my A. B.!”  But then, he seemed to hear a voice ... the voice of the world: “Sit down, son and I will teach you the rest of the alphabet.”  The commencement exercises that we all have attended, for some, just about a month ago, for the others, fairly recent and still some others, a long long time ago, is really just a beginning of the learning process because formation never ends.  Newton D. Baker says: “The man who graduates today and stops learning tomorrow is uneducated the day after.”

When you tell people that in order to climb that corporate ladder, it is imperative that one possesses a well-rounded personality, they would agree with you.  But while they agree, why is it that most often, professional formation is not taken seriously, or worse, neglected?  Why is it that people lose their study discipline after graduation?   I had a boss who was allergic to professional seminars.  When the concept of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) was introduced in my profession, he told me: “What they are doing is a racket.  They just want to earn money from us.”  Under the concept of CPE, one has to complete several hours of seminar credits before the Professional Regulation Commission approves the renewal of a professional license.  The last time I heard about this boss of mine was he was having a hard time renewing his CPA license.

Why do we need professional formation anyway?  In anything we do, it is easier when we know and understand why we do it.  The other questions of what and how necessarily follow.  As E. G. Lettermen says: “The man who knows how will always find a job but the man who knows why will be the boss.” It is very simple and  I’ll tell you why.  Professional work is the hinge of one’s sanctity.  It is the raw material needed to produce fruits of sanctity.  Therefore, we have to be good in our work... we have to be good in our chosen profession.  We cannot say “sorry” all the time.  To commit mistakes and say “I’m sorry once in a while – that’s ok – but if you do that all the time, it is a completely different story.  We have to work not only efficiently but also effectively.  And to be able to do this, we need to continuously learn all the time, updating our knowledge in our chosen field. 

Let me end with this quotation from St. Josemaria in Friends of God:  “We would therefore be on the wrong path if we were to disregard temporal affairs, for Our Lord awaits us there as well.  You can be sure that it is through the circumstances of ordinary life, ordained or permitted by the infinite wisdom of divine Providence, that we come close to God. But we shall not attain our goal if we do not strive to finish our work well; if we do not sustain the effort we put in when we began our work with human and supernatural zeal; if we do not carry out our work as well as the best do and, if possible, even better than the best. And I think that if you and I really want to, we will work better than the best, because we will use all the honest human means as well as the supernatural ones which are required in order to offer Our Lord a perfect job of work, finished like filigree and pleasing in every way.”