Work with love

“Without passion, you can't succeed.”

Resumes are overrated. They are pieces of paper that stand in for the job applicant. These sheets hold data keys that open locked company positions. These answer questions such as: Which college did he go to? What course did she take up? And, with the appropriate emphasis -are you SURE this is your REAL AGE? Without a doubt, all the academic achievements, extracurricular awards, and other embellishments are listed down, as well. However shiny, shimmering, and splendid these resumes may seem, do they show who the person really is? Being human is a given, but are the applicants humane? The only way to prove that is to find out if applicants have both the drive and passion, to and for work.

What is the difference between drive and passion? Drive lies in the intellect, the rational side of the brain. The person knows that this is the task that must be done, and makes plans to complete it. Passion rests in the will, the creative half of the mind. Or as poets beg to differ, it is found in the “heart”. This form of motivation makes one see the work through to the end, with or without personal benefit. (Whether human love comes from the heart or the mind is an entirely different story. Msgr. Gelbolingo advocates that people must be reminded of a certain body part's sole objective in pumping blood through the system, while the other's job is to send information toall body functions.)

Drive comes in when students do their duty to submit all the requirements on time, follow the instructions down to the last punctuation mark, and do everything the teachers' way. Students repeat this process to get the grades relative to the given work. More often than not, these grades consist of the minimum amount of points needed to get through to the next semester or year level. This way, the students practice their hobbies instead of course-related work to pass the time. Drive is cultivated when benefits are deemed necessary for the student to continue their arduous and cyclic journey until graduation.

Passion fuels students in the long run. In a state of passion for their work, students go all out to stretch their limitations. They do not care about their own health, or about how the grades will be. Not only do they follow the teachers' commands, they also exceed expectations by doing more than what is necessary. Symptoms of passion include soloing supposed group work, working late nights to improve their course-related skills, and possibly an increased difference in the students' strongest and weakest points in various subjects. Passion is nourished when students prove they love their craft, and live to continually refine it in the future. Both beneficial and unstable, this raw form of motivation may lead to “surprises” from those who don't feel the same way most of the time.

Photography teacher Bien Fernandez once told his class, “Drive is extinguished with failure, but passion is not afraid to try again and again until it succeeds.” He then began telling the true story of a guy who continually courted one girl for years. The male character had a lot of other pretty girls running after him, but he only wanted that one girl whom he madly loved. He found ways to make sure he proved his love to her every single day. The girl noticed his persistence, but rejected him under the grounds of him making her the center of his world. “God should be the center of your world,” she told him. “Come back to me after you have found Him.” Falling deep into depression, the guy went on a journey to find his God. After several years of soul-searching, he finally went to face the girl who broke his heart. “Thank you for your wonderful advice,” he told her. “Now that I have found my God, I am now ready to propose to my fiancé.”

But how does one fuse both drive and passion? This is summed up by St. Benedict's creed, ora et labora, which literally means, work and pray. St. Benedict proved how work should be done with love. He lived this example: “Love can also be the fruit of a service which a person readily performs.” (Note: Thanks to the meaningful insights of Josephine Vania Ruiz for this piece.)