Essence of Being - Assignment Example

Teacher WHO ARE YOU An Introduction Considering the millions of people worldwide, each individual is unique and distinctly different from the other even between born twins. I wonder how someone can assume anything about anyone without getting to know first who that person is. Usually it is your physical appearance that first distinguishes you from the other. But everyone becomes different from the other based on their character to interests and personality to goals. Each person has its own essence of being. The problem here is how the individual perceives his or her essence of being. Like me, am I the individual who acknowledges this essence of being or an individual who just simply ignores it? A person’s essence of being could come outstandingly or could just be ignored depending on how a person values it and how he lives his own life. Maybe the best questions to ask would be: Are you going to live only for yourself and your family? Or are you bound to go out and outreach for many to become their leader or a role model for a good cause? Or do both? If I choose from any of these goals, then I must cut out a plan and have a mindset gradually moving my life towards the chosen direction. So is one’s essence of being important in knowing a person? To know someone deeply may not come easily. It may take years or ages of conjoined common experiences to know somebody. Hence, whatever approach or how much information you need to know about me or any individual, will depend on how much you want to know or learn about the person. In my opinion, how you live your life will already manifest the character and personality or the person you are now. This goes to say know the person by the way he lives his life. So at this point in time, it is my concern at my age to do the best I can make out of my life, grabbing all the experiences and opportunities that may come my way to enrich and have a fulfilling life later. It does not have to be living in silver platter, a struggle for survival or do a heroic political struggle. Personally, I would say if you are presently happy and you made a lot of other people happy, then that is already a good sign that you are curbing a positive path of your life. Knowing someone usually starts with a conversation. But when conversation is not an option, writing can be a good alternative. So here imagine that I am virtually in front of you smiling and looking at you directly in the eye, showing confidence that what I have written here will interest you more to read on further about my being an encapsulated person. “Hello, I am Mr. Abdul-Salaam Al Dossari and this is a brief revelation of who I am”. 2. Walk-Through Memory Lane Let me begin with my early childhood years. I was born on July 25, 1990. I grew up in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Our family migrated to this place in 1982. We were all nine (9) siblings, all male species: I occupy the seventh in the brood. All our names started with Abdul and each of our names carries a meaning. My name Abdul-Salaam means “Servant of Peace”. I don’t know how to explain it but somehow we were to live up to the name given to us. For example, I had to be an occasioned peace-maker to my fighting brothers. I went to Al Bashair Private School for my primary education. I had fond memories of my childhood. My mother then wanted so much to have a daughter. She did a lot of prayers and offerings to Allah, praying for a daughter. But Allah answered her prayers with nine strong breed of boys. Allah has also been good to us in terms of our temporal needs. Father made sure that we are to be raised by our mother as fine, gentlemen according to only what we have and need and not from things that we don’t need and have. This is to take hold of us not to become future spoiled brats. I really had fun memories of my childhood and fighting among siblings was one of them. Fighting was inevitable for a brood of nine boys. However, both my father and mother raised us with a rod of stick literally meant with stern discipline. Every time we were disciplined, my parents made it a point to leave always an explanation why a wrongdoing had to be accompanied by a lash even when we never understood their explanation as a child then. But as we grew, we were made to understand that any wrongdoing commensurate to a particular punishment because somehow, they explained, somebody directly or indirectly gets hurt or something gets destroyed. Nobody escaped from the whipping of our loving parents. As years went by, I can still remember the fond loving memories when father bought me my “firsts”: my first handball and first bicycle. This started my interest in getting involved with handball sports and exploring the village with my own bike. My happiest moments during childhood were those occasions when we were all completely together bonding as a family while attending some family reunion, social functions or just enjoying a brief vacation to an out of town hideaway. On the other hand, my saddest and darkest moment in my life was when one of my brothers, Abdul Azeez (meaning servant of the mighty and powerful) died. He was next to our eldest. He was a brave soldier. He was declared dead after being ambushed in a battle front in 2003. During my formative teen years, I was enrolled at Abu Dhabi Secondary School. In my high school years, I was full of energy. I was active and wanted to learn and do a lot of things starting of by becoming an officer in our student council. I registered and participated in a number of organizations in school like science club, biology club, math club, dramatic club, school’s student choir, civic outreach club. I also became a contributor in our monthly student school gazette. My fondest memory in high school was when I tried to excel in sports, handball sport, which became later my favorite sport. As one of the school’s most valuable handball players, I had my ego boosted as many girls in my high school days swooned whenever I passed by them. Modesty aside, my being an awarded sportsman in high school also earned me muscle cramps, a fractured knee cap and a crack in my jawbone. Yet, I am still proud to have won some medals and trophies from this sport and to have experienced all these. 3. The Present Today, I still pursue my studies. I enrolled at Emirates International School (EIS) where I am taking up the course on Bachelor of Arts in Business Management. Well, today’s trend is the age of computer and cyberspace technology. It seems that people, including me, are so dependent on the Internet, websites, computer gaming, etc. Today, almost everything you do electronically is linked to computers. Computer age has drastically changed the world_ its lifestyle, trade and business, personal relationships, access to information, emergence of globalization with the underpinning of borderless countries, integrated economies, etc. Computer age has influenced almost everything either positively or negatively depending on how people use this technology. Currently, people or businesses found not using the computer technology are regarded as irrelevant, not competitive and probably already obsolete. With this trend, my interests shifted to this amazing computer world. Though we have programming subjects, on the side, I wanted to learn more skills using the computer. I am currently upgrading my I.T. skills through self-study by enrolling into some specialized I.T. crash courses. At this young age, I also decided to get married early too. I am now married to beautiful lass named Ameena (meaning Trustworthy and Faithful). She hails from Sharjah and we will be having our first child in a few coming months. We met two years back through a friend. Our first meeting was not that interesting. It was on our fourth meeting that changed my entire life. Our fourth meeting became our first date, a boat ride along a riverbank. Actually, it did not end the way usual first dates end. There was a sudden imbalance and the boat just suddenly capsized getting us both wet all over. Good thing, Ameena was also a good swimmer. It was this incident that I got smitten by her beauty and brains. It was also then that I finally decided that Ameena will be the one whom I would like to spend the rest of my life with. Why and How? I can’t explain it; it must be fate or magic. I told her of my decision and after some months, I finally decided to propose marriage to her and we both agreed to get married. On the day of meeting with both families, I had to drink a little of good wine to face my future in-laws together with my folks. Because of her fragile condition (being pregnant), she and I decided to forego of her job. We have moved out of our Al-Dossari family heritage house and father got a small condominium for us as a starter. My priorities in life changed after I got married and now about to have our first child. If I had my way, I would want to replicate the manner of upbringing that my parents did to us to my future children, if not totally, at least close to it. I focused my efforts on providing the best for my family. With this in mind, I started upgrading my skills in computers. Doing this gave me more confidence on my capability. Computers appeared to be my second love. I truly appreciate the added value offered by cyberspace technology in everyday life’s tasks like adding more convenience in the access of required information. This is why I explore new frontiers available in cyberspace, do a lot of hands-on challenging I.T. tasks and learn from and through them by heart. Things do come around the hard way. But getting things the hard way, to me, gives me more self-fulfillment. Citing from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the ultimate level of man’s needs is “self-actualization” (Kermally, 2004). I feel to have reached self-actualization doing these things. Currently, I have registered in some online income-generating companies offering part time jobs just to cover up with some extra expenses. At the same time, I am also doing part time night and sometimes graveyard shift jobs in one of the companies under Tricon Group of Companies here in Abu Dhabi while I pursue my collegiate studies during daytime. 4. My Future In the near future, after I earn my degree course in college, I still plan to pursue a masters degree in another field of discipline: Information Technology and Communication Engineering. I would like to become a duly certified Information Technology and Communication Technology Engineer. I also plan to scout for any related scholarship study program for this course. While honing my I.T. skills, I also tried joining I.T. competitions and have succeeded in winning and losing some, not bad at all. What were important to me were the experiences and insights I have gained from these competitions which enhanced my talents, skills and overall capability. One time I learned that my father was all the while closely monitoring what I have been doing lately. My father owns a multinational corporate business with its head office operating in Abu Dhabi. It is continuously expanding and will be setting up new branches in Europe and one in Asia. He wanted all his sons to follow his footsteps and be involved in the operation of this multinational corporation he started. It may seem that he already mapped out the future of his nine sons long before. In fact, he wanted me to pursue Law but I had other things in my mind than pursuing Law. One day, surprisingly, he dropped by our place and we had a father-son heart-to-heart talk. My father told me that I have good talents, skills and great potentials so he asked me to join him in an upcoming big multimillion military-related project that would benefit U.A.E. By joining him in this project, my father assured me that I have nothing to worry anymore about the security and future of Ameena and my children or his grandchildren to be. He also mentioned that he was getting old and our brood should take hold the reigns or be at the helm of his business empire including this one which he asked me to become the Chairman, the highest position of the company. Is this the destiny that is meant for me which I have to take? Looking back at the three options earlier presented. Will I be living my life for my family? The answer is YES. Will I be living a life bound to go out and outreach for many and become their leader or a role model for a good cause? The answer is YES. Or can I do both? The answer is YES. If it satisfies all these questions, then, this becomes the essence of my being in the near future. A pleasant day to everyone! WORKS CITED Kermally, Sultan. Gurus on Managing People (“Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in a Nutshell). London. Thorogood Publishing Ltd. 2004. Print. REFERNCE “Writing An Autobiography”, Sarasota.K12.fl.us., n.d., Web. 06 Sept. 2010 Read More