The Cs of Life: My BusCom Reflections

My second term at the graduate school has taught me a handful of life lessons. One of my three fountains of learning this term is my Business Communication subject. Yes, another fourteen weeks of discovering skills, of gaining knowledge and wisdom, and of building relationships.

Confession: I’ve always had this thing about life lessons. They are like chocolates to me: cravings. Ever since high school, I’ve been searching for deeper meanings of events and conversations.Even a professor’s simple statement can lead to a profound revelation that becomes an integral part of ME.I remember one college friend wrote on my yearbook something like this: “ Jaja loves to think and to talk about life.”

Until now, I still carry that repute. And my friends can tell. Even a simple statement from a professor can lead to a profound self-discovery or revelation that eventually becomes an integral part of ME. I always try to see the reasons behind a particular incident and its implications to my life.

My Business Communication (BusCom) subject is like Prince Caspian, Revenge of the Fallen, or New Moon—a sequel to my box-office (in my opinion) subject last term, Business Writing (BusWri). It’s quite obvious to my former BusWri classmates that I really loved the subject and of course, my section. And just like the box-office movies, we do love the first release, but we can’t wait to see the second part. We always hope that the sequel will be as good as the first, if not better. Same thing with my BusCom.:)

Confession: While I looked forward with anticipation to my second term, I had my apprehensions, too. I heard that BusCom is more difficult than BusWri.

Former BusCom students say that BusCom requires a lot writing and rewriting. Students are required to write letters and memos. For the finals, we will do videotaped oral presentations and will be criticized. And since I deliberately chose to take it under the grammar guru Ms. Marissa C. Marasigan, they said that it is going to be very arduous. I even remember asking Ms. Marissa a silly question during my BusWri farewell lunch out if she is demanding in BusCom. She replied wittingly, “What do you think, Jaja?” With that riposte, I still enrolled in her class.

Going back to my schoolmates' grievances on BusCom, isn’t the course all about Business COMMUNICATION? Shouldn’t we expect from our professors to teach us how to develop effective writing and oral presentation skills? How will a teacher assess our understanding of the lessons if he or she will not give tests? And shouldn’t we at least CHOOSE to learn from the best? So I resolved to prove that what people think of Ms. Marissa’s BusCom class is merely an urban legend.

You know, there is something more than just passing the subject or getting a 4.0 at the end of the term. I was under Ms. Marissa in BusWri last term…and I’m still alive. Actually, I'm better. So I decided to take on a different perspective. I set my heart and mind to learn as much as I can to be a better communicator. I constantly reminded myself of how much money I'm paying and how much time I'm spending in the grad school. But more than those reasons (and this is serious), I know one day God will use me for His grander plans and my ultimate job will require a great deal of communications. Now that’s a motivation!

BusCom has guiding principles and we call them the Cs of Effective Business Communication. For me, they are like steps to becoming a great leader! While Ms. Marissa did a wonderful job in teaching us these lessons (and my classmates did well in our business presentations), I figured that there is more than “meets the eye.” I find the principles - Cs of BusCom - relevant to one's life journey.

Let’s take a short walk.

1. Clarity

As human beings and the highest creation of God, we should all have a sense of purpose…a sense of direction. And that purpose must be clear to us—what God wants us to be and to do with our time, talents and resources. We will know His heart for us if we spend time reading His Word and cultivating our relationship with Him. We need to remember that God has a plan for us. A great future. We just need to fix our eyes on Him. In time, we will be able to see our lives through His lenses and live according to his pleasant, good and perfect will.

2. Coherence

Our lives must have a certain order. It’s not a shoot-anywhere kind of living. We need to have a definite plan to achieve the unity of purpose. That is why we need to have a purpose so we know what to plan on. Also, we need to set our priorities straight. And God must be the first in our list. If we seek Him first, we will have everything we need. That is why we have to be united with God. Our hearts to His heart. Our minds to His mind. Our spirits to His Spirit. Everything in and about us must be connected to our Creator.

3. Completeness

Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone needs to be loved. But we can only be perfectly complete in Christ. Jesus Christ completes us, not our Jeremy Maguires. God alone can fill that vacuum inside of us; Only He can make us whole. However, oftentimes we seek people’s approval and attention to find self-worth. Sooner or later we realize that they will never satisfy us. But God continues to reach us with His love. God’s love can quench our insatiable desire to be whole.

4. Conciseness

Less is more. We must learn the art of cutting unnecessary things from our lives such as anxieties, regrets, bitterness, and pride. They cripple us and make us miserable. In this journey, we have excess baggage: things we just want but don’t really need. We spend so much on the latest gadgets thinking that they will make our lives easy; however, they deprive us of the quality time we spend with our loved ones. Let us not let the hustles and bustles of life rub us from the best life God has for us.

5. Concreteness

While most people think that life is abstract, we need something concrete to appreciate it. For example, love is absolutely abstract, but we can see, hear and feel it by the actions and words of those who dearly loved us. God showed us how much He loved us by giving Himself to us first. That is love in action. Specific. Precise. Defined. Tangible. Real. Another thought about concreteness, however, speaks of our stubbornness. Sometimes, we don’t pay attention to the warnings, advices, and opinions from our loved ones, but we recklessly decide for our lives thinking that we are old enough to face the consequences, yet end up sorry for committing foolish choices. That is a concrete experience—the trouble and the pain that could have been avoided had we listen.

6. Consistency

Our actions must be consistent with our thoughts and words. Our decisions must be consistent with our convictions. Our values system must be defined by God’s opinion and not by our client’s affluence. Our leadership is measured by our integrity, honesty, and courage, and by our influence on others.

7. Courtesy and Considerateness

Life is all about people. Business is all about people. And pursuing people requires not much of a brilliant mind but considerably a good heart. We can never build relationships with out having the compassion and showing care for others. We have to think highly of others and we need to put their interest above ours because relationships are more important than profits.

8. Correctness

Though the correctness principle is a BusWri leitmotif, I find it appropriate to include the principle here because it is, after all, one of the Cs.

Since we all have messed up and there is no way for us to make up for our wrong doings, God has provided a way for us to be restored. He offers redemption through His Son Jesus Christ. He has lived a perfect, sinless life. And in Christ, we can receive forgiveness and adoption as God’s children—perfect, holy, and glorious. By the work of the Holy Spirit, our minds are renewed and our hearts are transformed.

Confession: After several sessions in BusCom, I realize that our lives are like letters and memos. People read our letters and memos and somehow our choice of words and punctuations speaks of who we are. That is why we have to proofread what we have written. Moreover, we have to reflect constantly on how we live our lives and how can make things better. :)

Sounds like I have proven the other students wrong about the urban legend. I don't really know. However, my BusCom "plight" was all worth it. That is why our weekly session became a thrill for me. I always awaited with eagerness - except for the waking up on Saturday mornings! - because I wanted to learn something new, something interesting. Each lesson has brought a new understanding though at times my classmates and I looked quizzical.

Every time Ms. Marissa introduced something new, my feedback was always accompanied by my subvocalized Oohhs and Aaahs. Along the way, I realize that yes, I love BusCom...and that includes the all quizzes, the assignments, the midterm (sigh!) and final exams, and the business presentations. I even have a BusCom suit. I had it tailored just for my presentation, which by the way, my dear professor announced to the whole class.

Oh, did I mention I was class president? Yes, I was. For the second time in Marasigan Republic. But nobody knows that my "executive" position (and my spiritual reputation) made me strive for excellence. Admittedly, I pressured myself to perform. I have never had copious grammar books in my life until Ms. Marissa became my professor.

In closing, I wish my classmates will remember all the good things we've shared in class and yes, the spiritual messages I courageously shared with them, including my reflections on the Cs.

But more than that, I pray they will remember the greatest C of all: Christ. He is the Alpha and the Omega…and everything in between. Apart from Christ we are nothing. In Him we move, we live, and we succeed. From Him, we draw strength, courage, hope, faith and love. May we always remember that Christ is the living WORD. He is the greatest communicator of all time—the WORD became flesh. He did not only tell us how much He loved us but also demonstrate His love for us by giving His life that we may live.

My hope is this: Message sent equals message received. :)

P.S.

If I have seriously committed circumlocution here, forgive me.

I thank Ms. Marissa for everything she has taught us. She may be one of the most difficult professors yet I believe she is one of the best assets De La Salle Graduate School has. I could not find any better words to say how grateful I am to be gleaning lessons from her field of expertise. I just wish everyone gets to appreciate the same.