L.A.M. on an Interesting Lunch

Had the most interesting lunch today.

Caught up with an SMU junior whom I haven’t spoke to for more than half a decade.

This was a guy who completed 2 degrees within 3 years while maintaining a near perfect GPA and was someone I thought and still do think is the epitome of drive and determination. This guy was one of the few juniors I admired and inspired me to work hard in my finals semesters.

During lunch, he told me that I was his first mentor, albeit unofficially. We happened to take the same module when he was in the second semester of his first year. During that time, he had come out of his first semester with a GPA of only 3.3 out of 4.0 (it was in his view a miserable score for someone with a history of being a high achiever) and he was semi-depressed and just wanted to finish school as quickly as possible.

In class he noticed that I was always playing games but when he learnt that I had a GPA of 3.99, he was stunned and grew determined to learn as much as he could from the guy who manages to ace classes despite “playing computer games in the back row.”

He learnt and modeled through observation how to be efficient, how to be meticulous in tutorials, how to make presentations more interesting and how to get professors to like you without being viewed as the teacher’s pet.

What he said next really struck me. He said that when he asked me for tips or questions, even for modules that we were taking together, that I would not hold back and be very willing to share all my knowledge. 

He said that most people would be a little stingy with their sharing because they wouldn’t want someone else to steal the only A+ grade for the class. And he said that he wouldn’t have done so well in school if not for my candor.

I left that meeting feeling very refreshed and encouraged. I was pleasantly surprised that I have subconsciously made a positive impact on someone else’s life. There were some things my 10 year younger self was doing that I could certainly learn to do more of today. 

In the evening I met up with an ex-colleague whose boss told him that he needs to cheat, lie and deceive in order to succeed in his company. We both agreed that this is something we could never do.

Reflecting back on the day’s events, I realised that there are many paths to success. Some requires you to do things that keeps you awake at night. But another one requires you to be open, to uphold integrity and to be consistent.

The first path might be easier but it is the latter that is more satisfying. So when presented with multiple paths, always take the high road because you never know who you might pick up along the way.

#My10YearChallengeInLiteraryForm